


Arcana High

by Luna96



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Except Romano because he's special., Gen, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-10-06 23:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17355011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna96/pseuds/Luna96
Summary: Hetalia- Magic / Highschool AUIn this world, there are two kinds of people. Humans, and Magi.Humans and Magi live in harmony, but Magi, when young, all go to another kind of school, where magic is part of everyday classes.Certain Magi have a different kind of magic, aside from generic magic. One person per Country, to be precise.However, only other National Magi know they exist. To humans and ordinary Magi, they are simply a urban legend. It must remain that way.Welcome to Arcana high. Watch as friendships grow, secrets make themselves known, and love blooms.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is both my first Hetalia fanfiction and first story on here. Sorry if a few characters are a little OOC, I'm trying my best! Feedback would be appreciated!
> 
> Disclaimer: I, in no way, own Hetalia or any brand mentioned in this fic!

In this world, there are two kinds of people. Humans, and Magi.

I am of the latter.

Humans and Magi live in harmony, but Magi, when young, all go to another kind of school, where magic is part of everyday classes.

Certain Magi have a different kind of magic, aside from generic magic. One person per Country, to be precise.

I am one of them.

I am the National Magi of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

However, only other National Magi know we exist. To humans and ordinary Magi, we are simply a urban legend. It must remain that way.

My name is Arthur Kirkland. I am 15 years old, and on this day, I start my first year at Arcana High.

\--------

      A small young woman stepped up onto the stage on the large boat, microphone in hand.

      "Excuse me, everyone!" The heads of several hundred Magi turned at that.

      "We have arrived at Arcana High! We will unload the boat momentarily. Please gather your things and refer to page 2 of your Student Direction booklet to find out where your dorm is, and who your roommate is. Your booklets are each unique, so only you and your roommate know what room is yours."

    Arthur heard a sigh of relief from somewhere in the crowd.

     He then opened up his, and after flipping to page two and reading some information about the Dorms, he came across a name.

Francis Bonnefoy.

     "Hm. Hopefully he's friendly." Arthur thought. 

      The school authorities began unloading the docked boat. Arthur grabbed his bags and began following the crowd off of the boat. 

      He noticed a few peculiar faces, like a albino boy not much younger than himself seemingly annoying the bloody hell out of another boy, about his age but with black hair. He also noticed a set of twins with adorable curls on the sides of their heads that were conversing in a language he suspected was Italian. 

     People from all different countries of the world attended here, as this was the single most prestigious high school for Magi the world over.

Arthur sighed.

    Arthur had never been the greatest at making friends, and all his old friends were Humans back in London. This was going to be difficult. 

    He sighed, and began the long walk to his dorm.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"This is SOOO COOL!" Alfred shouted at his younger, quieter twin. 

"I know, don't be so loud!" Matthew whisper yelled back. 

The duo had just arrived in their dorm. It was gorgeous. There was two separated bedrooms and a common room right beside it. In the common room there was a huge ceiling-to-floor window facing the shimmering sea surrounding the island that the school was located. The whole southern beach could be seen from the top floor view. Matthew looked out and smiled.

"It's so pretty..." he looked back at his brother. 

In the common room, there was a kitchen, a couch and a TV. The kitchen was beautiful too, though not as gorgeous as the outside room. It was all white, with heated hardwood floors and marble countertops. Not a flaw in sight.

"I know!" Alfred replied happily. He was obviously very happy to be here. 

Matthew calmly went back to unpacking his bags. 

Spare glasses? Check.  
Maple EVERYTHING? Check.  
Laptop? Check.  
Kumajiro? Ch-wait...

"Al, have you seen Kumajiro?" Matthew asked his brother awkwardly. Kumajiro was his stuffed polar bear. It was a gift from their grandmother before she had died. Matthew couldn't sleep without him.

"Uh, yea he's right here" Alfred pulled the bear out of his bag and passed it to his brother. Matthew hugged it before setting it down beside him and continuing his unpacking.

The twins had grown up in two different countries for most of their life because their parents hated eachother's guts. Matthew was only a year and three days younger than his brother. They held a close bond, even so far apart, with Matthew living in northern Ontario and Alfred living in Florida. Their main means of communication was texting and video calls, and playing games online with eachother. 

"So when do classes start again?" Alfred asked.

"Next Monday. It's Sunday right now, so we have a week to get used to all this." Matthew reminded him. His brother was always so forgetful.

Despite it being a isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there was plenty to do. There were events like swimming comptetitons every week, plenty of places to go, like the cliffs on the northern side of the island, and random places of play scattered about. There were several cafés, too. One was even a cat café! The island's restaurants sold foods from any culture imaginable. Food from Japan, to Greece, to Mexico... Hell, they even sold Poutine! Matthew was particularly happy about that. There was hockey rinks, several sports fields, laser tag buildings, and the whole island had a amazing internet connection. The school buildings themselves, seperate from the dorms, were enormous. It held grades from 9-12, and several thousand Magi went there. The island may as well be a country in itself! It was certainly large enough.

Matthew and Alfred finished unpacking, before Alfred grabbed Matthew's arm and began shouting, "Come on! Let's go exploring! Let's make some friends!" Matthew agreed, and the duo set off exitedly.


	2. Friends and fights!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I might've written Greece a little OOC in this character, but I'll try harder in the future! Sorry!

"Come on. I need to meet up with some friends. Are you coming, or are you going to stay here all alone?"

Arthur had gotten to his dorm safely, and had discovered that his roommate was to be a obnoxious Frenchman. Great...

They got to know eachother a little, but not very much. Well, he was Arthur's roommate. A bit of time to learn about eachother wouldn't do any harm.

"I suppose I'll come... But it's only so I can make some friends. I don't know anyone here." Arthur responded, taking his last sip of tea and setting his cup down on the countertop. He would wash it later.

As he followed Francis out of the room, he couldn't help but ask some questions. 

"So how do you know these guys?" he asked.

"Oh!" Francis responded, "We all met on a online RPG we were playing. We're from all different countries! Antonio, from Spain, Gilbert, from Germany, who introduced us to Alfred from America, who introduced us to Matthew from Canada. That's normally our gaming team. Just the six of us. We even video call sometimes! We've known each other for about three years now!" Francis finished excitedly. "This is our first time meeting in real life, though."

Arthur tried to take that all in. How did they all know each other? How did that even work? He was going to think more, before he was interuppted by a shout.

"HEY! FRANCIS! OVER HERE!"

Arthur and Francis turned their heads to see a smiling blond boy waving his hands in the air. Another blond stood behind the loud one, waving happily. He seemed to be much quieter, and had a peculiar curl of hair that stuck off of the top of his head. A brown haired boy stood beside them, distracted by his phone. 

Francis practically dragged the poor Brit over to the small group, despite his cries of "Let go of me you bloody frog!" and "Stop it you git!"

Eventually Francis let Arthur go and said hello to his friends.

"Arthur, this is Alfred, Matthieu and Antonio!" He pointed to each of them in turn, before pointing to Arthur himself, "Guys, this is Arthur, my roommate."

Everyone greeted eachother, before Francis asked a question. 

"Where's Gil?"

"Right.... Here! Hi guys!" a Gilbert told them between breaths.

"What took you so long?" Alfred asked, gently nudging his friend's shoulder.

"Ludwig practically interrogated me!" he stood up straight and began impersonating Ludwig. "Oh where are you going? What friends? Those online friends of yours? Oh fine. Wait, when will you be back? Bla bla bla bla BLA!"

Antonio snickered at that. Gilbert looked at Arthur, "Who's that?" to which Francis replied "My roommate."

"Oh, by the way," Antonio asked, looking at his book. "Does anyone know who the hell..." he paused for a moment "Yao Wang is?" he looked at his friends, who were all shaking their heads, before interrupted by angry shouts from another direction. They all looked over.

"Oh, really? I'm soooo scared!"

"Why you little!"

Two men had gotten into a fight. Both had brown hair, though one's was longer than the other's. One had a mask over his eyes and the other didn't. They looked quite similar. By now, a circle had formed around them, chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!".

They may all have magic powers, but this was still technically a high school.

The group wandered over to see what was happening. One of them had the other pinned to the ground and was about to punch the other in the face, but several of the school's staff had come over to break it up. 

"Heracles! Get off of Sadik this instant!" one of them shouted. There was anger in Heracles's eyes, but he complied. He then picked up a overcoat off of the ground and threw it over his shoulders, while the other one, presumably Sadik, got up and glared at him. Heracles gave Sadik the finger angrily, before the teachers stepped between them to avoid another fight, and escorted them away. The crowd split away into a few smaller groups, discussing what had just happened.  

"Woah, who were they? It's literally been three hours since we arrived!" Alfred asked, astonished. 

To which his brother replies, "They probably knew eachother beforehand. Probably not on very good terms."

"Hmm... That reminds me of something Romano did this one time!" Antonio mentioned, and the group went off to do their own thing.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Honestly, fratello, I don't get why you like that stupid potato bastard so much!" Romano mumbled to his brother. 

Feliciano, Romano's younger brother, had known Ludwig (AKA Potato bastard) since they were very little because their parents were close. Despite Feliciano's family living in Italy, and Ludwig's family living in Germany, they still managed to spend lots of time together. Romano knows him, too, but hates his guts. Romano "hates" everybody. 

"Why must you be so tsundere...?" Feliciano thought.

"I am not tsundere!" Romano exclaimed.

"Fratello! I thought I told you to stop doing that!" his brother replied.

"That's kinda hard! You think loud, idiota!" Romano bit back.

They also had a kind of "twin link" sort of thing. They can communicate with eachother telepathically, and also hear eachother think sometimes.

"Where is that bastard anyways? He should be been here..." Romano looked down at his phone, "Three minutes ago."

Now Feliciano was worried. That wasn't normal for Ludwig. He was always extremely punctual. Feliciano took a look around, before noticing not one, but two of his friends approaching. Ludwig AND Kiku!

Feliciano smiled and approached the duo, while greeting them with several happy, cheery "Ciao~!"s while his brother eyerolled and came along.

"What took you so damn long?" Romano practically growled at the two.

Kiku decided to explain, "Heracles got into a fight with Sadik and got himself in trouble." He seemed mildly embarrassed at the actions of his friend.

"Ve~ I hope they're both okay!" Feliciano smiled, obviously trying to cheer up his friend. Just then, Ludwig's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket, just before it exploded with messages. From what Feliciano could see, they were from three people. Gilbert, Ludwig's brother, Roderich, Ludwig's Austrian cousin, and Elizabeth, Roderich's Hungarian girlfriend. It was all in German besides the texts from Elizabeth, which were in English. 

Feliciano's German wasn't the greatest, but from what he could tell, Gilbert had been bothering Roderich, like he does, and Elizabeth had hit Gilbert upside the head with a... Frying pan? Okay, then. Now, Gilbert was furiously running from a angry Elizabeth down the dorm halls, and Roderich was trying to stop them from getting into trouble. Roderich wasn't strong or fast enough to get Elizabeth to stop, so now Ludwig had to stop their whole family for getting in trouble.

Ludwig sweatdropped, before telling everyone, "Erm... I'll be right back. I have to settle some... Family issues..." he then bolted off.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Stupid Gilbert. Why couldn't he go more than a hour without getting into trouble? Ugh. All of this is giving me a headache" Ludwig thought angrily before arriving at his destination. Floor 9. The second highest floor. 

The elevator doors opened to reveal slightly more than Roderich had described. Sure, Elizabeth was chasing Gilbert with a Frying pan, but there was also a woman with... Large assets... On the ground crying, and a boy trying to comfort her, panicking slightly. They were speaking in what Ludwig was fairly sure was Russian. Several other students stood in their doorways, trying to comprehend the scene. The boy that had been trying to comfort the crying girl then stood up and yelled,

"HEY."

Well, that's definitely one way to grab everyone's attention. The boy then rushed Gilbert angrily and pinned him to the wall. The Russian boy opened his mouth to speak, but Ludwig interrupted.

"I'm very sorry on my idiotic brother's behalf. Please let him go so I can punch him in the gut myself."

The Russian locked eyes with him, seeming to have a dark aura around him. A few students began chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" before someone shushed them.

Then, the Russian, still glaring at Ludwig, tossed Gilbert to the ground beside himself. Gilbert managed to stand up and hide behind his brother, before asking a simple question. 

"Can you at least tell me your name? I wanna know just who I got my ass whooped by just now."

The Russian responded with a creepy smile, his dark aura becoming ever more noticeable, "Ivan Braginski. Watch where you're running next time, Da?" The smile on his face didn't hide the pointed threat in that statement.

Gilbert responded awkwardly, "Okay then Ivan, it was a accident, I'm sorry about what I did to her!" He peeked out from behind his brother's back.

"Ufufu~ Okay, Gilbert!" Ivan replied, that creepy smile still on his face. Ivan then said something to his sister in Russian, and they went back into the dorm.

"That kid's creepy... Wait... I don't remember ever telling him my name?" Gilbert questioned.

Well then. That was eventful.


	3. Monday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this might be a good point to mention that there are other students besides our main group. 
> 
> Also, swearing warning for this chapter, courtesy of Canada having no coffee and Romano existing. I mean, If you've already watched the Hetalia anime, I doubt you really care.
> 
> Also, this chapter is kinda long. Just a heads-up.

The week went by quickly. Everyone was enjoying their stay so far. The official classes start tomorrow, and everyone is excited. 

"So, Ludwig. D'you think there's any more of your kind here?" Ludwig flinched a bit at that. Sure, he was the National Magi of Germany, but he's still a human!

"Why do you always act like this is some kind of huge thing? I'm not any different from you! Well... Maybe a little, but..." Ludwig replied. They were in their dorm. Gilbert was sprawled out across the couch, playing a game on his favorite console, and Ludwig was cleaning the countertop.

"Well, it kind of is! Sure, you're human, but you're also very, very different! I mean, there's only about... What? 200 of you guys?" Gilbert paused his game and draped himself over the back of the couch to look at his little, yet far more responsible brother.

"One hundred ninety-five, according to the number of United Nations recognized Countries. But there could be more." Ludwig thought about that. Yeah, this really was a big deal. Ludwig and Gilbert had figured it out about thirteen years ago, and they had almost died. Ludwig was only three at the time, but he had saved both of their lives. Mere hours later, Ludwig got his "Charm". Every National Magi had one. It was a small crystal, orb, or other small object made of a precious metal of some sort, and would have either the flag of the Country they represent, or a specific insignia to do with the Country. Ludwig's was a orb that looked as if you wrapped a German flag around a sphere and made it reflect light. Ludwig had put his into a necklace. Only Gilbert and Ludwig knew about the fact that Ludwig was a National Magi. Most of the time he hid his necklace beneath his clothes or left it at home. If that crystal broke, Ludwig would die. Painfully.

Ludwig shuddered at that.

"But do you think that any other National Magi are going here?" Gilbert asked again.

"Well, probably. There's only a few other high schools for Magi around the world, and this is the best, so we're bound to meet at least one..." 

Gilbert looked directly at Ludwig, and asked, "What if we've already met one?"

That question earned a "What?" From Ludwig, so Gilbert elaborated, "What if Feliciano or Romano is the National Magi of Italy?"

Ludwig paused for a moment, before denying that thought. "Out of the 60 million people who live in Italy, I highly doubt that Feliciano or Romano is the National Magi."

"You realise that the population of Germany is 82 million? What were the chances that you were born as the Magi?" Gilbert replied.

"I didn't say it was impossible. I said it's highly unlikely."

"Ten bucks says that Feliciano is the Italian National Magi."

"You can't be serious, Gilbert."

"Dead serious."

Ludwig gave Gilbert a small smile, something uncommon for the blonde, "I'll actually take you up on that. I'll take free money."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- 

"Hey. Hey Matt. Matt. Matthew. Hey. Wake up, maple boy."

"Fuck you, Alfred." Matthew groaned before pushing his annoying brother's hand away. Matthew was NOT a morning person. 

"Classes start today."

Matthew was about to kick his brother, before his mind registered what he had said.

Matthew bolted upright. Classes! That's right! Matthew sighed.

"Alright, get out of my room. I'll be out in five minutes. Make me a coffee." Matthew told his brother.

"Alright, geez Mr. Bossypants. I'll make you a coffee." And with that Alfred left the room. 

Matthew stood up and walked over to his closet. He opened it up, and looked through his clothing.

"What to wear..." He mumbled to himself.

He picked out his favorite shirt and some jeans, before realizing it's only late September.

He changed out his jeans for a nice pair of jean shorts, before putting the outfit on and looking in the mirror.

He looked... Decent. Light colored shorts, with a white shirt with red sleeves that went down to just above his elbow. He definitely had to brush his hair, Which looked more like a messy mop than anything. His curl sat in it's usual spot, however. He noticed that something's missing...

He walked over to his nightstand and grabbed his glasses, putting them off. He then picked up the the box holding a necklace beside it. He opened the box before looking at it.

It was gorgeous. It had a thin, silver chain leading down to a white gold maple leaf charm on the end. The tips of the maple leaf had small rubies engraved into it. This necklace was special.

It was his Canada Charm.

He put it on gently. He knew it would kill him if it got destroyed, but he had been so close to having it broken so many times, he was ninety percent sure it couldn't bend, and the rubies couldn't fall out. It was destructible, just not easily. He clutched the charm, before letting it fall to his chest.

He quickly brushed his long hair, before grabbing his cellphone and joining his brother in the common room. 

His brother was eating toast with literally HEAPS of Nutella on it. He had his usual bomber jacket on, with jeans. Matthew didn't know why, it was only 15°C out. Matthew sat down on the opposite side of the table where his plate and coffee sat, before taking a slice of his own toast and taking a bite. His had peanut butter on it instead of Nutella.

"You know, too much of that stuff is bad for you, right?" Matthew told his brother and looked at the Nutella coated toast.

Alfred took a sip of his coffee, before looking Matthew right in the eyes and, not taking his eyes off of his brother's, took another bite of the toast almost sarcastically.

Matthew rolled his eyes and asked him, "That means you don't care, right?"

"Precisely."

"I figured."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Francis Bonnefoy?"

"Ici, madame!" 

It was class time, and Francis was tired. His first class, unfortunately, was math. Francis had never been the best at math. He wasn't the worst either, but he hated math with a passion.

"Lena Charleston?"

"Right here!"

Francis decided to look around the classroom. His roommate was in another class, sadly, and the only people he knew in this class were Matthew and Alfred.

"Ryan.... Col..lohmar?"

"It's Colomar, Miss..."

"Thank you, Ryan."

Francis tuned out the teacher calling attendance and looked around the classroom. Beside him was a pretty brunette girl with glasses, who was whispering to a tall girl across the aisle from her. The class was layed out into rows. Behind him were two twins with hair dyed pink and blue. Besides that, there really wasn't any difference between them. On his other side was a shorter, darker skinned girl with curly hair. Alfred and Matthew were across the classroom. Francis was pulled back to reality with a start.

"Francis Bonnefoy! Do you know what my name is?" The teacher shouted, covering something on the board.

"Uh... Um... No... Désolé, Madame..."

"Pay attention." She uncovered her name on the board, revealing it to be Mrs. Zaryanova. Russian. Now that Francis was paying attention, he did notice the woman had a heavy accent.

This is going to be a long class...

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Lunch at last..." Arthur thought. The day's first four hours had been torture. His first class had been SCIENCE of all classes. Arthur hated Science. He then had Art. Math had been next, followed by music. He knew no-one in any of his classes today, besides Magic, where he was in a class with several of Francis's friends. Speaking of Magic class, that was his last period class. He had gym next. Arthur didn't like gym, either. He wasn't very athletic at all.

He was sitting alone at a table, before Francis, Matthew and Alfred sat down around him.

"We saw that you were alone, so we thought we would join you, Arthur!" Alfred nearly shouted. He already didn't like him. The trio sat down and began eating.

"So, what class are you in next?" Matthew asked, quietly.

"I have gym, followed by Magic." Arthur mumbled.

"Wait, what class are you in for magique?" Francis questioned.

"What is this, Twenty Questions?" Arthur sighed before continuing, "Class A1. I have class A1."

Matthew and Francis smiled, and Alfred spoke again, "Cool! That's the same class we have!" He frowned, "But we're in the same class as the Russian kid who almost punched the shit out of poor Gilbert."

"Alfred, what class is Lena in?" Alfred asked his brother.

"Uh, didn't she say... B1?"

"Basics one... She won't be in our class for quite a bit..." Alfred frowned.

Matthew smirked, "What, are you developing a crush on her?"

Alfred nearly spit out his drink, "WHAT? No, no way!" He cried. All Matthew responded with was a quiet, "Mhm..."

Alfred gave in, "Okay. I think she's pretty. But we just met her! For all we know, she's a complete bitch!"

Francis laughed, earning a glare from Alfred. 

Alfred looked at Matthew, "You *don't* think she's cute?"

 

Matthew just looked at him, with the most "What do you *think*" face ever.

"Oh yeah..." Alfred drew out the word yeah, "Sorry, I forgot" me mumbled.

*"Again."*

"Yes. Again."

Arthur and Francis just stared at the two in confusion. What just happened. Oh well. Now he had something to look forward to.

/\/\/End of Chapter 3/\/\/

 

"Okay, class." The teacher shouted at his students with a strong British accent, "Welcome to Magic class. I will be your teacher. My name is Mr. Lexington. Any questions?"

One girl raised her hand.

"Chloe Oxton!"

"Do you believe in National Magi?" 

The teacher smirked before looking around, and with a charming wink responded, "That I do! I'm searching to find out if any of them are going to this school! Of course, it'll be tough, but I know I can!"

The teacher moved his hands animatedly, and spoke quickly and with excitement. He was obviously happy about his job.

"He's... Eccentric..." Kiku thought awkwardly, before looking down at the small red and white orb that hung from his neck. He decided to hide it beneath his shirt before the teacher noticed.

"Now! Let's get to what I know you're all waiting for! This *is* the advanced class, so I'll skip the basics! Now! Can someone tell me the three types of magic?"

Arthur raised his hand at that.

"Arthur Kirkland!"

"Spell, Arcane and Elemental."

"Correct! Now, I try to amuse my students and keep them moving! So! If you know your Magic element, please stand on the left side of the class! Everyone else, stand on the right!"

The class mostly moved to the left, while a few moved to the right. Kiku was on the left.

"Okay! I expected more to not know their element, but we can work with this!" Mr. Lexington smiled, "Matthew Williams-Jones, Alfred Willams-Jones, Romano Vargas, Lena Charleston and Ryan Castillo! Don't worry, you're not in trouble. You five help those five figure out their element in that side room over there." He pointed to a door on the right of the class. The selected students left the class without protest. They all knew what they were doing.

The school's magic teachers got special notes on all of the students, and knew everything about their education. Kiku knew this because his mother, Mrs. Honda, worked there. She was the one who got him into the school.

Kiku's element was Earth. Nature, specifically. He liked his element, but tended to just stick with rocks, because he had been bullied in elementary school, as Nature was a more... Feminine element. Kiku's thoughts were interrupted by the teacher.

"Now! All those remaining! Pick a partner! We're going to be practicing Elemental-Arcane mixing!"

Kiku panicked slightly. He was rather good at mixing his element and Arcane magic...  
...with his flowers. 

Normally, Kiku used Sakura petals and flowers in his elemental magic. He rarely used his control over the Earth. He would need to focus.

Kiku glanced at his hand, before a hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts. He jumped, before he saw who it was.

"Kiku, want to be my partner?" A calm, quiet voice came from behind him. It was only Heracles, a close friend from when he went on a exchange trip to Greece.

"A-ah, of course, Heracles-san." He smiled.

Everyone quickly chose, and Mr. Lexington began.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Close your hands like this. Like you're holding a ball." 

Matthew was trying to explain to a girl named Emily how to find her element.

"Like this?"

"Exactly. Now close your eyes and feel your energy. Don't speak, just listen. Speaking distracts you."

She nodded. Good.

"Try to form a ball with that energy. Don't focus it like Arcane, just use the raw energy."  
Matthew began forming a ball of icy energy in his hands to demonstrate.

"Hold it there, and show it to me."

She did just that.

A orb of pure white is held in her hands. It shimmers slightly. Her element is Light.

"Open your eyes and look."

She opened her eyes, and looked at the orb. Her amber eyes widened and a small smile formed on her face as she looked at it.

"Light. You're a natural." Matthew told her.

Alfred and his partner, a boy named Winston, were having no such luck. 

"...It's gone. Again." Alfred mumbled.

"I just had it..." Winston groaned.

"Try it again. I believe in you." Alfred encourage. 

 

So he did. Eyes closed, hands together, sense energy, form ball. He had to get it this time!

"Now. Let me see." Alfred told him. Winston did that, and Alfred could see a tiny ball of electricity.

"Lightning! That's so cool!" Alfred exclaimed, suprising Romano's partner on the other side of the room and making her lose her focus.

"Hey, quiet down you stupid hamburger bastard! Yuna almost had it!" Romano shouted at Alfred angrily.

Alfred responded awkwardly, "Okay, geez man, chill out!" 

The room continued in silence until everyone's element was figured out, and then they all kinda looked at eachother awkwardly.

"So, what do we do now?" Emily asked no-one in particular.

"Mr. Lexington never told us." A black haired girl replied.

"I say we just go back in and join the ot-" Alfred tried to suggest a idea, but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

"Are you guys done in here?" Asked the boy who had opened the door.

It was Ivan Braginski, same kid who almost beat Gilbert up. 

 

"Y-yea, we're all finished" Matthew told him, and the group left the room. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Why don't you use your flowers?" Heracles asked Kiku quietly.

Kiku was struggling to mix his Earth and Arcane, "I don't want to be made fun of. It happened all through elementary besides my year in your country." 

Heracles nodded calmly, "I see."

Heracles didn't blame Kiku. In highschool, kids were far more rude, and will verbally tear you apart for being the slightest bit different. Kiku loved his powers, but didn't want to be made fun of for them, so he hid them.

Heracles, on the other hand, had Lunar powers. Lunar powers are rarer than most, much like lightning, solar, and metal. People who have rarer powers tended to be more popular, but Heracles usually prefered to hang around Kiku and his friends rather making his own, which wasn't many. Feliciano, Romano, Gilbert and Ludwig.

Kiku and Heracles were not good at making friends.

"Okay class!" Mr. Lexington started again, "It seems most of us are doing very good! Does anyone want to demonstrate?"

Several people raised their hands.

"How about..." 

Kiku tried to avoid eye contact with the teacher.

"Kiku Honda!"

Crap.

Kiku felt the class's eyes fall upon him. "Oh no..." He thought.

He focused hard and tried to call upon rocks instead of flowers. He then formed a swirling orb of Arcane energy with small stones floating in it.

"Very good, Kiku!" Mr. Lexington told him.

Kiku quickly dissapated the orb. Heracles smiled at him. Sure, he wasn't the best, but he had done it.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Hey. Hey Ludwig! Hey! West!"

"What is it Gilbert"

Gilbert took his pointer and middle fingers, channeled a little bit of energy, and jabbed Ludwig in the shoulder.

"Zap!" Gilbert shouted, as a static shock was heard.

"OW! Don't do that!" 

"Kesesesesesesese!" 

Gilbert had shocked his brother in the shoulder. Gilbert could control lightning. 

"Why are you like this?" Ludwig asked, exasperated. 

Gilbert just laughed more.

 

The school day had ended. Gilbert and Ludwig were walking back to their dorm.

The school day had gone well. Gilbert and Ludwig shared the majority of their classes. 

"Wait, can we eat out tonight?" Gilbert asked. He may be older, but his brother was far more responsible.

Ludwig laughed, "You've got some nerve, asking me that after what you just pulled." 

"Oh come on!" 

Now Ludwig was the one smiling. He sighed, before replying, "I suppose. We have enough money. Where should we go?" 

"Hmm, I don't know. I heard there's a nice Chinese place on the other end of the island." Gilbert suggested. 

"Sounds good." 

The duo reached their dorm quickly. Ludwig unlocked the door, before looking up at the clock on the wall.

"It's only 2:30. We still have a few hours." Ludwig told his brother, "Maybe one of our friends are doing something?" 

 

As if on cue, Gilbert's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and sat down on the couch before unlocking it.

"I guess Antonio is with Romano, Feliciano and a bunch of their friends at the west beach. Wanna go suprise them?" His phone went off again, "Never mind. Toni just invited us."

Ludwig nodded, "Maybe we can get some pictures of fish or something." Their phones were completely waterproof. Ludwig enjoyed trying to take photos of fish and other underwater wildlife. Feliciano was the one who got him into it.

The two got their swimming shorts from their respective rooms. 

"Gilbert, you should put sunscreen on." Ludwig suggested.

"I'll be fine."

"Last time you got your back completely burnt. Put on sunscreen."

Gilbert shuddered. That had hurt. For weeks. Yeah. He should put sunscreen on, "Okay."

Gilbert put his sunscreen on, and then the two set off.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Feliciano watched as Antonio lept off a high rock, into the water for the fifth time. Maybe he should try it. "Maybe when Ludwig and Gilbert get here." Feliciano thought, before pulling himself out of the water he was swimming in, up onto a rock and sitting down. They were having a mini party. A bunch of people were there. It was their whole extended group of friends. Antonio, Alfred, Matthew, Francis, Romano, Kiku, Heracles, Arthur, and a few of everyone's friends. The most noticeable groups was a bunch of Toni's friends loudly playing volleyball against Alfred's. A mixture of everyone's different music was blasting from Antonio's Bluetooth speakers. Currently, a Japanese song was playing. Romano, Kiku, Heracles, Arthur and a few others Feliciano didn't know were sitting on the sand, talking or reading books. Everyone else was in the water. 

Feliciano smiled, before diving back into the water. He looked around, before spotting a crab to take a picture of. He pulled his phone out of his shorts pocket, opened up the camera, and snapped a picture of the small creature before it scuttled away. He lifted himself up to the surface and took a breath, before looking at the picture and smiling. Perfect. He was about to dive back down before his name was called.

"Feliciano! Hey!" 

He looked over at who it could be curiously. It was Ludwig! Feliciano looked and smiled. He couldn't help but think, "Ve~ he's kinda hot..." 

Apparently his brother heard his thoughts again, because he replied, "Why? Why do I need to hear your thoughts? I don't need to know what you think of the fucking potato bastard!" Obviously, he didn't say that verbally, but telepathically.

"Ah! S-sorry, fratello!" 

"Watch your volume next time..." Romano told his brother, irritated. 

 

"It's not like I know what you think of Antonio or anything..." Feliciano thought darkly. 

 

"WHAT WAS THAT?" 

 

"Ve~ nothing~...!" 

 

Feliciano giggled before swimming back to shore.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Matt! Can you throw some water at Arthur for me?" Alfred asked his brother. 

 

"What? Why?" Matthew asked, genuinely confused. 

 

"I'm trying to get him to come swim with me and Francis!" Alfred whined, "He won't get in the water!" 

Matthew replied sarcastically, "Wild thought, but maybe he just doesn't want to?" 

 

"Bu-" 

 

"No buts. If you really want to, throw water on him yourself." 

 

"Okay!" His brother then went off to look for something. Probably a bucket. 

 

"Sorry, Arthur" Matthew smirked. Poor, poor Arthur. 

 

Matthew pushed himself back under water and through a patch of seaweed. The water was quite warm, and he prefered cold water, but he *was* on a tropical island. It was still water. Matthew found it easier to manipulate colder water, but maybe that's because he specializes in ice. He could still work with warm water.

 

He swam into another patch of seaweed, before spotting something shiny. He dove a little further down, and picked it up. Some kind of crystal? 

 

Matthew looked at it. It was a pretty blue sapphire. Matthew smirked, and pocketed it. Nice. Beside it was... 

 

...A iPhone? 

 

Now Matthew was exited. He hadn't found a phone underwater in ages. This phone looked to be a iPhone X in a water pouch. He smirked, before grabbing it and trying to power it on. Did it work? 

 

The screen turned on. It worked! The pouch was probably air-tight considering the fact that it was sitting at about two times it's designed waterproof distance of one meter. Matthew pushed himself to the surface and smiled. He didn't like iPhones, but, if there was no data on it, he could get some easy money.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was now 5:00. The sun had almost set, and Romano was getting hungry. The mini beach party Antonio had held had been... Eventful. Arthur had gotten a bucket of water to the face from Alfred, and Alfred had been running from Arthur for almost a half hour before Arthur gave up. Kiku had gotten his toe grabbed by a angry crab, causing him to freak out and get sand on EVERYTHING, (Romano was just glad it hadn't gotten in his hair.) Gilbert had convinced Feliciano to jump off of a rock into the water, and Feliciano actually did it again, on his own, Matthew had found a working iPhone in the water, and Antonio and Francis had a volleyball tournament with some of their friends. Romano was about to grab his brother and go get dinner, before Gilbert approached him. 

 

"Hey, Romano! Me and my brother were wondering if you and Feli wanted to get dinner with us! We're going to the Chinese place near the mall!" 

 

Romano groaned. He *really* didn't want to, but he knew Feli would, "One minute. Let me ask him." 

 

"Fratello!" Romano thought loudly, hoping his brother would hear. 

 

"Si, Romano? Feliciano replied. 

 

"Do you want to go to dinner with the potato bastards? Potato bastard #2 just invited us." 

 

"Si! Tell them I'll be there in a minute!" 

 

Romano looked back at Gilbert, "He said yes  
He also said he'd be here in a minute." 

 

"Oh? You guys have that twin telepathy thing? That's super cool!" Gilbert smiled. 

 

"Yes, stupid. But he thinks loudly, and sometimes makes it hard to sleep." Romano mumbled. 

 

Romano and Gilbert waited for Feliciano before joining Ludwig and going for dinner.


	4. Lazer tag! Introducing: The Nordic Five!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I just realized, almost a week after posting, that I posted two chapters in one. I am confused and slightly embarrassed, but also laughing. I blame my phone. I am writing on my phone, so it's my phone's fault. (Not really lol.)
> 
> Also, sorry if any of the Nordics are OOC. They aren't my strong suit.
> 
> I also just realized how short this one is... Sorry!
> 
> Swearing warning this chapter, courtesy of Romano (As usual) and BTT being jerks to eachother.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Friday afternoon....

The rest of the week had gone by uneventful. Francis had Gilbert and Antonio over, and the lot of them were loudly playing video games in the common room, giving Arthur a headache. He couldn't go outside because it was raining, and he didn't want to get soaked. 

"FRANCIS NO!" Antonio screamed

Francis laughed loudly and obnoxiously, "FRANCIS YES!"

"FUCK YOU!"

Francis laughed even louder.

"I was about to win..."

"Fourth place AGAIN? SCHIESSE!"

Bloody hell, their yelling was getting annoying. Arthur was going to have to leave. He now had a headache. He didn't want it to get worse. Maybe he could escape to the library?

"LET'S DO IT AGAIN! THE AWESOME ME REFUSES TO QUIT UNTIL HE WINS!"

"I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN! I AM THE BEST PLAYER HERE! FRANCIS IS TRASH AND ONLY WON BECAUSE OF A FUCKING BLUE SHELL!"

"EXCUSEZ MOI?!"

Great. They're getting competitive. 

"Screw this." Arthur thought. He grabbed his coat angrily, grabbed his dorm keys and left his room.

"I'm going out! Don't make a mess!" He shouted to Francis.

"Okay! We wo-ANTONIO YOU LITTLE!"

"FUSOSOSOSOSOSOSO!"

Arthur sighed and left. Where was he even going? It's 6:00 on a Friday. He needs to eat, and it's pouring out. Maybe he could go to some restaurant? He didn't have any way of avoiding getting soaked.

Soon, without realizing it, Arthur reached the main entrance. Maybe he could borrow a umbrella from administration? "No, umbrellas aren't for me" Arthur decided, and stepped outside.

It wasn't raining as hard as Arthur thought. He would still have to be quick. He speedwalked down the path to what could almost be a city centre, and choose a nice cafe to go to for dinner.

Arthur ordered a nice tea and a sandwich, and sat down near a window, gazing out at the rain. Reflection time.

Gazing out the window, he thought. How was mom doing? She had said she would call him so he wasn't charged long distance. He was worried. She hadn't called. He was sure next week, school would pick up the pace. The previous week had been fairly laid back, but this wasn't his first school year. He had made a few new friends through Francis, but he still didn't know them very well. He sighed, and ate his meal.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Next Day. _-_-_-_-_-_-_- 

"Ve~... Fratello, I'm bored." 

"You're always bored." 

"Can we visit Ludwig?"

"We are *not* visiting the potato bastards"

It was quiet. Feliciano didn't like it. At all. There was nothing to do. He was hanging upside down on the back of the couch. His brother was sitting at the table in the kitchen area of the common room, sipping coffee. Romano had only woken up ten minutes ago. Feliciano woke up several hours ago. 

Romano Vargas was not a morning person.

"...If you really wanted to, would it be possible to get away with murder with magic? Or could the authorities still track you down...?" Romano mumbled quietly.

"Why is this what you think about early in the morning?"

"No clue." 

Romano took another sip of coffee. He gazed out the window, before mumbling something that Feliciano didn't quite hear. He flipped himself up onto the back of the couch, and asked his brother, "Why can't we go see Ludwig and Gilbert?"

"Because I just woke up. I don't have the mental capacity right now to deal with the potato bastards. I will never understand why you like them so much." Romano glared.

"Yeah, well /I/ will never understand why you like Antonio so much..."

"What was that?" 

"Ve~ Nothing!"

Romano mumbled again. He clearly wasn't in the mood to go anywhere. Feliciano slid off of the back of the couch onto a cushion, stood up, walked over to his favorite console and grabbed the controller, turning it on. It wasn't the same as going somewhere, but was still enjoyable.

After a little bit, Romano joined Feliciano and they played the game together. There was a rare smile on Romano's face. After a few hours, however, boredom set in once again.

"Fratello, I'm bored. Again." Feliciano mumbled.

"I know. I am too." Romano sighed, "Do you still want to see the potato bastards...?"

"Si!" Feliciano replied.

"Go and text Ludwig and we'll see if we can go over..." Romano mumbled again.

"Yay! Grazie, fratello!"

Feliciano went to get his phone. He was happy. 

He stepped into his room where it sat on his headboard. He picked it up and turned on the screen. He smiled at the lock screen. It was him, Romano, Ludwig and Gilbert smiling at the camera. He unlocked it, and went to his texts and tapped on Ludwig's name.

"Hey Ludwig! I was wondering if you wanted to do something today! Me and Romano are bored." Feliciano mumbled as he typed. He tapped send happily.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Ludwig's phone went off. He was cleaning. Again. Gilbert had cooked breakfast, and made a mess, which frusturated Ludwig. He washed and dried his hands quickly and grabbed his phone. He unlocked it to see a text from Feliciano.

"Hey Ludwig! I was wondering if you wanted to do something today! Me and Romano are bored." He read.

"Well, I suppose. It's a little cold out though. Where could we go?" He texted back.

The response came almost instantly, "I heard there's a lazer tag place near the Chinese restaurant we went to on Monday! Maybe there? Oh, and should we call instead of text?"

"Yes. That'll be easier." Ludwig texted back, and then his phone rang. He picked up.

"Ve~ Ciao Luddy!" Feliciano greeted.

"Hallo, Feli." Ludwig blushed at the nickname Feliciano had given him.

"So how about that lazer tag place?"

"We would need more people. Maybe contact Francis? He has a few friends who could join us." Ludwig suggested.

"Okay! I'm texting him now... And.... Sent!"

They waited a few minutes, and Ludwig went to go tell Gilbert, who was playing guitar in his room.

"Gilbert! We might be going out with Feliciano!"

"Okay, Bruder! Where?" 

"I guess there's this lazer tag place somewhere?"

"Okay!"

"I just got the text back! He was going to call Matthew and Alfred anyways. Maybe we can get Antonio too... Right, Romano?"

Ludwig heard Romano in the background, "S-shut up."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Here are the rules!" The instructor shouted.

They were at some place that Tino couldn't pronounce. Matthias had dragged him, Berwald, Lucas and Emil with him. He was invited by his American friend, Alfred. Who was invited by his French friend. Who was invited by his Italian friend. Yeah. Tino only knew the other members of their group, the "Nordic Five".

They were called that because they all met on a exchange trip to Canada. They were all from different Nordic countries. Matthias was Danish, Berwald was Swedish, Lucas was Norwegian, Emil was Icelandic, and himself, Tino, was Finnish. They became friends, and kept in contact over the internet. They had even wrote a song together! They had also discovered that Lucas was somehow related to Emil, and Lucas had a strange obsession with getting Emil to call him "Big brother".

Matthias seemed to know a few people here. Mainly the American guy and one of the German guys. They had made groups. The Nordic Five was one. They had some of the best. Tino was had a ridiculously good shot. 

"Do not shoot anyone in the head. It won't do anything, and you risk hurting the person. Have fun." The instructor... Finished? Crap, Tino had tuned out. Whatever, this wasn't his first game of lazer tag. No running, jumping, or shooting people in the face. Simple enough.

He moved out with the group. The lights were still on. "Woah... Berwald, this place is huge!" He told the Swede beside him.

"Mhm." Berwald replied.

Matthias shouted, "Let's do this, Nordic Five!"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"That was really fun!" Gilbert shouted.

Everyone who had been in the game of lazer tag had gone to a nice Italian restaurant for lunch. 

"I still can't believe how bad I did..." Yao mumbled. 

Everyone was chatting and having a good time. Kiku smiled. He was sitting between Heracles and Feliciano. Feliciano was happily talking to Ludwig, and Heracles was eating his food. But... Something seemed off. Kiku couldn't tell what. He looked around the table. He felt like someone was... Watching him?

He poked Heracles's arm anxiously. Heracles finished his bite of pasta and looked at Kiku with a curious look in his eye. 

"I feel like someone's watching us..." Kiku whispered to him. Heracles looked around, before whispering back, "Now that you mention it, I feel that too."

Good. It wasn't just him. Everyone else seemed fine, though. Maybe they just hadn't noticed yet. However, Kiku felt slightly endangered. 

"Relax, Kiku." He thought, "Nothing bad will happen..."

He sighed and took a bite of his food.

"It's been great getting to meet you guys!" Matthew smiled, his voice quiet.

"It's been nice meeting you too, Matthias!" Yao replied.

Matthias pitched in, "I heard my name?"

Yao seemed slightly confused, and looked at Matthew, who looked slightly irritated, "My name is Matthew. His name's Matthias." He mumbled, pointing at Matthias.

"Oooohhhh."

Then, Kiku's eye caught something. A small earring on Yao's ear.

It was what looked like a small, flat ruby, with five small, yellow specks on the top left corner. It drew his attention. But why? Come to think of it, those specks almost look like the stars on the Chinese flag. How did the earring's makers manage to get that into the crystal? A thought entered his mind for a split second, but Kiku quickly dismissed it. That's not possible.

Is it?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HeylookitsAustria!
> 
> Also, I hope I didn't make Greece OOC ahhh...
> 
> Greek translations done by Google translate, probably aren't actually very accurate, but I do not speak Greek, so it's my best bet.
> 
> Also, their classes are based on what I know about the Ontario grade 9 curriculum. I have never been to school in any other countries or provinces, so I don't know anything about other places school curriculum. I'm also only in grade eight, so this is all what I know, which is based off of what happens at my school. So, I literally have no clue. 
> 
> Also, I may or may not have a self insert as a teacher. Plz don't kill me.

"Ready for class?" Ryan asked his roommate.

Roderich sighed. He still didn't know anything about his roommate. He had hoped to share a room with Elizabeth, but knew that that was against school protocol. Girls were to be paired with girls, boys with boys. 

Roderich had nothing in common with his roommate. They didn't get along very well. 

Roderich sighed and stood up, "I suppose so." 

The walk to the main school building was quiet and tense. The brisk morning air and seaside breeze helped Roderich slightly, but Ryan still seemed displeased.

"You know, if you don't like me that much, you could apply for a new dorm." Roderich mumbled. 

"I'm doing that tonight. I'm going to try to share a dorm with my friend." He snarled.

Roderich didn't know why Ryan had such a issue with him. He hadn't done anything to him. Maybe it was the fact that he played piano and violin in the mornings before school and late into the night.

Come to think of it, yep. That was probably it.

When they arrived at the school building, the two went upstairs to their lockers and prepared for their first period.

Music.

In music, he was a prodigy. He always got A+s on all of his music assignments, and could transpose music by ear. He had even written a few of his own songs. 

He unlocked his locker and grabbed what he would need for his first two periods. His binder and his pencil case.

He walked down the hall, looking around at other students who were chatting, getting their things, and goofing off. One student was throwing bottles at another, and was being scolded by a friend. 

As soon as he stepped into the hallway that contained all of the art and music classrooms, he heard someone shouting from behind him, "Hey! Prissy-pants!"

He knew exactly who that was.

"Ugh. What do you want, Gilbert?" He asked, annoyed.

"I got my class changed I guess! I'm in your class first period now!"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"For your first assignment this year, you must choose a partner and play a piece together. You have a minute to find a partner."

Of course, a partner activity. Roderich felt light tapping on his right shoulder from the excited albino behind him. He looked back at him to see him smiling, and Gilbert asked, "Wanna be my partner?"

"I suppose."

"Time's up." The teacher spoke.

"That was not a minute!" One of the other students complained.

"It's a minute when I say it's a minute."

"So. The piece you play can already exist, or you can write it yourself. A third of your mark on this assignment is based on your sheets, so make sure it's written well. It can be played on any two of the instruments in this room, including the pianos." She gestured to the two pianos on either side of the room, "Or two of the same instrument. The only exception to this is that you cannot use both pianos at once. Since this is the advanced class, I assume we all know how to write and Read music sheets, and play at least one instrument?"

A chorus of "Yep!"s and "Yes"es sounded from the class.

"Good. You may move around. I have blank musical sheets here. Get to work."

Roderich and Gilbert both stood up and walked to the front of the room with their classmates to get a paper. Once they had gotten papers, Roderich immediately went and claimed the piano for himself. He noticed that Gilbert hadn't grabbed a sheet.

"So, what are we playing?" Roderich asked, expecting some ridiculous pop song to be the answer.

"A song I wrote myself!" Gilbert smiled. He pulled a few sheets of music out of his binder, handing one to his surprised companion.

The title was in German. "Mein Gott..." Roderich read out loud. Interesting title.

"I wrote it to play on flute and piano. I wanted to play it with you sometime, but we didn't get into contact over the summer." Gilbert said, rubbing his neck.

"Who's playing the flute?" Roderich asked.

"Me. I play flute." Gilbert said, grabbing a nearby stand and placing his sheet on it.

Roderich inspected his sheets. He glanced over the first ten measures, "I assume you have the melody in measure one to nine?" He asked. He only played a few chords until measure ten.

"Yep. Here. Let's play to the end of the fermata in ten." He says, turning on a metronome, "Count me in." 

He does so, "Eins, zwei, drei, vier!"

Gilbert plays the beginning melody, and Roderich plays chords until measure ten, where he gets melody for a few bars. Then, Gilbert takes melody. They go past ten, and don't stop. They play the whole song. There was a extremely fast part, a several volume changes, a key signature change, a coda, another fast bit, more key changes and a crescendo, before the song ends. Roderich just held his breath. That was more than he had expected. Gilbert had played it nearly perfectly, (It WAS his song) and Roderich had hit a few wrong notes, but it was great for a first try.

Gilbert lowered his flute and smiled, "That was great."

Roderich smiled too, "I'm surprised. That was actually a really well written piece. Not what I expected from you."

Gilbert just kept smiling.

They decided to work on the small bits that they had messed up on, along with articulation and the crescendos for the rest of class.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Why me?" Kiku thought, as one of the people around him shoved him into a wall. He was being picked on. 

Of course it was him. He was perfect bullying material. He was small, shorter than most, even Feliciano. He was quiet and respectful, not at all what the others acted like, and looked generally harmless.

He really didn't want to put a rock in someone's head today. Or strangle someone with a vine. He would get in trouble. But he couldn't just take it, either.

"C'mon, nerd boy! Say something!" One of the bullies teased.

"I really don't want to hurt anyone..." Kiku mumbled.

"Ha! Like you even could!" One of them, a girl named Liza, that he recognized from one of his classes teased.

Kiku was just about fed up with this. He scowled, and formed a orb of Arcane energy with stones as a warning.

"Oh no~ I'm sooooo scared!" Liza said sarcastically.

She received the orb to the stomach.

Liza held her stomach in pain. Kiku knew that it wouldn't be that bad. He hadn't hit her very hard, barely enough to bruise.

"Oh, now yoU'RE GOING TO GET IT!" One of the boys shouted.

Great...

He pinned Kiku up against the wall again, pinning his hands to his side so he couldn't get out using his powers, and was about to punch him in the face, before a shining bolt of Lunar energy flew between them.

Heracles.

Thank god.

The bully dropped Kiku in shock and stumbled back. Everyone looked at Heracles, who still had his hand up from firing the bolt. He had a serious look on his face, and a glare directed at the one that had almost hit his friend.

"Ajax." Heracles growled.

"H-Heracles!" The boy, named Ajax, seemed nervous now, "F-Funny seeing you here! D-Do you know him...?"

"Beíte makriá apó aftón, skýla." Heracles snarled in Greek as he lowered his hand.

"Sygnómi!" Ajax shouted, seeming panicked, and stepping away from Kiku.

Ajax turned to his friends, "C-Come on guys... Let's go." He said, retreating quickly.

Heracles looked at Kiku. He was still in shock. He quickly recovered, however.

"A-Arigato, Heracles." Kiku thanked his friend, "Do you know him?" Kiku couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. I know him too well." He mumbled in return, "He bullied me and beat me up almost all through the first semester of grade seven, so I kicked his ass. He was hospitalized for a month." Heracles was normally very calm and easygoing, but you could be in danger if you got on his bad side.

"A-ah. I see." Kiku acknowledged quickly.

Heracles seemed to have calmed down slightly, "Come on. Let's go have lunch."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I swear, something's up with some of those kids." Mr. Lexington, or Kaleb Lexington mumbled.

"Hm? And what would that be?" Mrs. Honda asked.

Several of the teachers were in the teacher's lounge, as it was lunch. Most of them were prepping, sipping coffee or eating lunch. Mr. Lexington was scribbling on a paper.

 

"Particularly those two boys from Italy."

"Kaleb, please elaborate. There are plenty of children from Italy."

"Those twins!" Kaleb exclaimed.

"You mean Feliciano and Romano Vargas?" Mrs. Akia Honda asked.

"Yes! They hang out with your son often, no? Do you know anything about them? What about their family? What other students are they close to?" Kaleb questioned.

Akia was uncomfortable with the bombardment of questions, "N-No, Kiku doesn't speak of them often. He normally speaks of his other friend Hera-"

"His other friend?! Tell me about him! Oh! And that necklace that Kiku always wears! What is it? Does it symbolize something?"

Mrs. Kiku was quickly growing very uncomfortable, "Why must you know?" She asked.

He replies enthusiastically, "Because! I'm trying to find out if any of the students are National Magi!" 

A third teacher, Ms. Cassandra Frampton, interrupted, "Kaleb, you're trying to find something that doesn't exist. Believing in National Magi is like believing in Santa Claus and unicorns. It's simply a urban legend."

"No! They are real! Akia! When did Kiku get that necklace? I must know!"

"H-He claimed he made it when he was younger..." Akia mumbled.

"KALEB! STOP PESTERING HER!" Cassandra slammed her fist against the table, "Mon Dieu, how did you manage to get hired here?"

Kaleb completely ignored her, "I haven't noticed that any other students have things like Kiku's necklace, but Ludwig Beilschmidt acts really nervous around me. So does... God, what's his name... The... The Canadian kid... Uh... Maxwell! That's it!"

"Kaleb. As your superior, I demand you stop this madness. You are making Mrs. Honda uncomfortable." Cassandra growled.

"Fine, fine." Kaleb mumbled, and slid his paper away. 

The three ate lunch together, but both Kaleb and Cassandra seemed tense.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Alfred, please participate.."

"No, sorry, I'd rather not." Alfred replied. Dance class?! That's stupid!

"Alfred, this is very important!"

"When am I going to need to know how to dance for my career? Matt! Tell her this is ridiculous!"

Matthew facepalmed, "Actually, Alfred, in Canada, well, Ontario at least, this is pretty normal... The Canadian curriculum had the most influence on the school, as we were the ones who contributed the most to it's construction, and we have mandatory dance cla-" 

Alfred interrupted, "What? You're supposed to back me up! This is dumb! I never had to take dance back in America!" He crossed his arms in frustration.

"Oh you know what?" Mrs. Song mumbled, "Go to the resource room. I will phone Mrs. Ruby to make sure you get there."

"Fine! I will!" Alfred shouted, and stormed out of the door.

"Dance class. Stupid... Why? If I want to be a engineer, why do I need to know how to dance?" Alfred mumbled as he stormed down the hall. He noticed a poster on the wall. He decided to stop and read it. It read:

SCHOOL BAND LOOKING FOR MEMBERS!  
Tuesdays / Thursdays  
2:10-4:00

Run by Ms. Frampton  
Must know a instrument already!  
All are welcome!  
Come and see what's available!

"Huh." Alfred thought, "Something Matt might drag me into. I do know how to play euphonium... Yeah, I'm getting dragged into this later. And run by the nice teacher, too!" 

Alfred continued down the hall again, until he reached the resource room. It was pretty much the room where the teachers put the kids they didn't feel like dealing with. He opened the door and walked in.

The room was quite nice. Mrs. Ruby, one of the kindest teachers in the school sat at her desk, writing something. The huge windows were open, and a stack of closed laptops sat in a corner, atop a table, awaiting use. Sunlight flooded the room. The artificial lights used in the rest of the school were turned off. Several potted plants sat around the room. One boy sat on one of the many round tables in the room, filling out a worksheet. Mrs. Ruby took notice of Alfred right away.

"Oh, Alfred! Hello there. Mrs. Song told me you weren't behaving?" She spoke, looking at him.

"Yeah." Alfred sat down in one of the beanbag chairs that were scattered around the room, "I don't see why we need a class dedicated to dancing. It's dumb."

She seemed thoughtful, "Well, Alfred, dance class is important, because it helps keep your body healthy, like Phys-ed, and it also builds teamwork." She paused, before continuing, "You want to be a engineer, right? Well, you might just have to work together with your co-workers to build something some day."

"Why can't I just do that in another class?"

"That..." She giggled, "I really don't know. Blame the curriculum, not Mrs. Song. She's only doing her job."

"Good point." Alfred mumbled.

"Now, do you have anything you need to finish for another class?" She asked.

"No, not really." Alfred sunk further into the beanbag he had claimed.

"Well, only because I have no work to give you, you can have some free time." Mrs. Ruby paused, "But don't expect to come here for free time all the time, Alfred. This is a one time thing."

"Thanks, Mrs. Ruby."

"Damn." Alfred thought, "How can Mrs. Ruby and Ms. Frampton be so friendly? It must be genetic."

Mrs. Ruby and Ms. Frampton were twin sisters, but Mrs. Ruby used her first name, because if they were both Ms. Frampton, things would quickly get confusing.

Alfred grabbed a book off of the shelf beside him, titled "Snow". The cover looked pretty creepy... Maybe a horror book? Alfred opened it and began reading.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Ah, Magic class." Francis mumbled. Arthur stood beside him. It was last period, and they were both quite tired. Francis clutched the small, tricolored crystal that hung from his neck gently, somehow hoping it would re-energize him. 

It, as usual, did not. 

He didn't complain. It was technically the only thing keeping his heart beating and his lungs breathing, so it was already doing enough for him.

They were waiting for their teacher to arrive outside of the magic room. A few other students were there as well. Gilbert kept zapping his brother and Roderich. Matthew played with a small wisp of cold air and snow, twirling it around his fingers and forming it into different shapes. Kiku was whispering to Heracles so no-one could hear their conversation, and Ryan was complaining to Antonio about roommates and glaring daggers at Roderich, who was still under attack from Gilbert. A group of students were gathered further down the hall and glaring at Kiku and Heracles, and Kiku, noticing them, shuttered nervously. The others were seperated into groups, chatting. A few students hadn't arrived yet, like Alfred and Romano, when their teacher arrived.

"Good afternoon, students~!" He almost shouted, "Who's ready for tests~?"

Tests? Oh, great.

Evidently, some of the others weren't excited, either. Roderich did not look pleased. Neither did Feliciano. Ludwig seemed surprised, but not quite upset. Matthew, if anything, seemed afraid. Arthur seemed mildly agitated, and one of the students that had been glaring at Kiku and Heracles seemed very, very nervous.

Mr. Lexington shouted, "Okay! Everyone, follow me!"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Alllll.... I don't wanna..." Matthew mumbled.

"Matt, you have to! I'll come with you if you need me too."

Matthew and Alfred were whispering to eachother. Magic tests were going on in the next room over. Every Magi, at some point, had to do this every year, second week of school.

Matthew hated them. To most people, it was a quick prick on the arm, and a few tests.

Most people. 

Matthew was different. He was a rare breed of Magi with two kinds of energy. Alfred was too. So was their mother. It's a genetic thing. 

They both hated testing because of the extra test that dual Magi went through. Balance tests.

Balance tests hurt.

Really, really badly.

Matthew didn't exactly know what the testers had to do that made it hurt so much, but he knew it was important. 

Another person walked out of the room, a small bandaid on his shoulder. The next person went in. Matthew was next.

He clinged to his brother's arm, whimpering. It HURT. 

Not a simple scrape on the knee hurt. No.

It hurts like you're getting torn apart. Of course, you aren't actually, but it's truly excruciating. The pain stops when the tests stop, however, so when it's over, it's over.

Thankfully.

"Matt, I'll get them to let me sit beside you. Remember what we did during tests in middle school?" Alfred muttered to his brother. Although he would never admit it, he was scared too.

The two would always cling to eachother during the tests. They were comforted by eachother's presence. Though the tests still brought tears flooding from their eyes.

The student that was before Matthew came back out of the test room. Alfred and Matthew stood up from where they were sitting on a bench, Alfred having to tug Matthew slightly to get him to move.

The two stepped into the clean, white room. Matthew panicked a little and tried to pull Alfred and himself back out, but Alfred squeezed his arm. Matthew stopped.

"Ah, you two. You're Alfred and Matthew Williams-Jones, correct?" A pretty, female nurse asked the two.

They nodded in unison.

"Ooookay... Who first?"

The two looked at eachother with a questioning glance, "Who went last year?" Matthew asked.

"I think it was me. Your turn." Alfred replied quietly.

Matthew sighed, and stepped forward.

"Okay, Matthew. Can you take off your sweater and sit down here for me?" The nurse asked kindly.

Matthew wasn't fooled by her kindness. He knew what was about to happen. A few normal tests, a few magic tests, and then hell on earth. But, he did as he was told. Alfred took a seat in the chair beside him.

"Okay. The first thing I'm going to do is take a small blood sample. Okay?" She asked Matthew.

"Yep."

Matthew looked away. The needle didn't hurt very much, but the blood in the needle always made him feel a little queasy. The needle pricked his arm gently, and extracted some blood. When he felt the needle pull out of his arm, he knew it was safe to look back.

"Okay. Can I get you to open your mouth, please?" She asked, pulling on a mask.

Matthew did so, and the nurse looked around in his mouth.

"All good in here!" She finally told him, "Now magic tests. Can I have a sample of your arcane energy please?"

Matthew produced a small ball of energy on the tip of his finger. The nurse held out a small crystal vial. He solidified the orb and placed it in the vial gently.

Now the worst bit.

"Okay, Matthew. I'm sure you know what's next?" The nurse asked, grabbing a small, all too familiar red and white armband that would slip around his bicep in the very near future.

"Yep..."

"Give me your arm, please." The nurse told him. Matthew complied. With his other arm, he grabbed his brother's hand.

"Okay. Band's on. Tell me when you're ready, Matthew."

Matthew quivered slightly, clenched his brother's hand in his own, and slowly said, "Ready."

"Okay." The nurse began a countdown, "Three, two, one."

The pain was immense. Matthew bit back a scream, flinching heavily and tightened his grip on his brother's hand. He felt small tears form in his eyes. It lasted several seconds, before finally stopping. 

Matthew let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and let go of Alfred's hand. He rubbed the tears that were now trailing down his cheeks, and stood up.

Alfred's tests went well, until the balance test.

"Do I have to? Why? It hurts so much!" Alfred complained.

"It's very important, Alfred. You only have to do it until you graduate." The nurse told him, as she grabbed the wristband again. Alfred instinctively gave her his arm. Matthew prepared his ears. While Matthew could hold his shouts in, Alfred was very prone to screaming during the test. Loudly.

"Tell me when you're ready, Alfred."

Alfred was shaking nervously, "T-The hero's never not ready. B-bring it on." 

"Three, two, one."

Alfred shouted and clenched Matthew's hand. His shout quickly dissapated into quiet sobs. When the test finished, Alfred almost jumped out of the chair. He immediately pulled the armband off, not waiting for the nurse. 

"Thank you for your time. Your test results will be in next week." The nurse mumbled.

The two walked out, only to be greeted with a few odd looks, probably due to Alfred's screaming. He flinched at the glances, except for one.

Ivan had a look of understanding on his face. Was he a dual Magi too?

Alfred and Matthew sat down next to eachother. Alfred still had tears in his eyes, and he was furiously trying to dry them away. He noticed one person in particular smirking at him. The kid who had been glaring at Kiku and Heracles earlier.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in a day BC I don't feel like posting tomorrow, too. 
> 
> Headcannon: Canada is actually very good at music, he can tune most instruments by ear! Don't judge me and my headcannon, plz!
> 
> Italian translations are Google translate, so they're probably not right.
> 
> German translation done by me! Yay! Although it's only three words...
> 
> Also, look LietPol!
> 
> Swearing warning this chapter courtesy of sleepy Gilbert being a child. And Romano, as always.

Chapter 7.

No! Questo è stupido! Ho finito! SONO FATTO CON TE, ORA, FELICIANO! "

"FINE! STO ANDANDO A LUDWIG'S! NON POSSO AFFARE CON TE GIUSTO ORA!"

Feliciano grabbed his things and ran out, slamming the door. He and Romano had just gotten into another argument. Tears were running down his face as he speedwalked down the dorm building halls.

"What floor does Ludwig live on again? It's seven, isn't it?" Feliciano asked himself. He stormed into the elevator and pressed the seven. Hopefully Ludwig would let him stay the night. He couldn't deal with his brother right now.

The elevator quickly reached it's destination. Feliciano waited for the bland gray doors to open. When they did, he stepped out and walked to Ludwig's room. He had memorized the number. "537" he mumbled to himself. He finally reached the door to his friend's door and knocked. The door opened, revealing Ludwig.

"Oh? Feli? Why are you here? Wait..." Ludwig noticed the expression on his face, "Are you? Why are you crying, Feliciano? What happened?" 

Feliciano just hugged him. Ludwig stiffened a little in shock, before hugging Feliciano back, "It's okay, Feli. Tell me what happened" Ludwig told him, welcoming him into his home. 

Feli flopped down onto the couch, "R-Romano and I got into a fight a-AGAIN!" He cried out. 

"I assume you want to stay the night here?" Ludwig asked.

"Y-yeah. I can't deal with Romano right now."

Ludwig sighed. He was more than glad that Feli was staying, but he couldn't let him know that!

Feli buried his face in a nearby pillow, crying into it. He felt Ludwig sit down beside him, before he shouted, "Gil! Feli's staying here tonight!"

The response came from Gilbert's room quickly, "Okay!"

"Can I get you anything?" Ludwig asked Feliciano. 

"Can I have some water? And chocolate?" Feli asked.

Ludwig smiled gently, "Of course. I'll be right back." 

Feliciano felt Ludwig stand up off of the couch. Slowly he removed his face from the pillow he was hugging. Ludwig returned from the kitchen with Feliciano's favorite chocolate bar and a bottle of water. He hands the chocolate and water to him.

"G-Grazie, Luddy..." Feliciano mumbled.

Ludwig blushed slightly, "That damn nickname..." Ludwig thought.

"What do you want to do?" Ludwig asked, hiding his face.

"Do you have any videogames?" Feliciano asked quietly.

"Ja. We could play on the PS4?"

"Sounds good." Feliciano mumbled with a smile.

_-_-_-_-_-_-Meanwhile, with Romano-_-_-_-_-

Romano was sitting at the table, hands on his face. Why had he done that? Ugh. 

Romano hated being alone, and now that Feli had gone over to Ludwig's, he was just that.

He looked at his phone. Maybe he could text Antonio, get him to come over?

He grabbed his phone, unlocked it, and began texting Antonio.

(// Means texting!)

//Romano: oi, tomato bastard. Come over, I'm lonely//

//Antonio: why? Where's Feli?//

//Romano: we got into another fight... //

//Antonio: oh. I'll be right over. Gotta let Yao know where I'm going.//

//Romano: kk, bastard//

//Antonio: oh, I know you don't really feel that way, Roma~//

//Romano: Stfu.//

//Romano: Bastard.//

//Antonio: lmao//

Romano put his phone down and sighed. He decided to get a drink from the fridge. He grabbed a cub from the cupboard, went to the fridge, opened it and grabbed some apple juice. He poured some into the glass and put it away.

Soon, he heard a knock on the door. Antonio. He put his juice down and walked over to the door and opened it up. Yep.

"You okay, Roma?" Antonio asked.

"Si. I just... Feel terrible. We both said some things we're going to regret..." Romano replied, "Come on in. Feli ran off to the potato bastard."

Antonio nodded in understanding and entered. Romano returned to his cup of apple juice. Antonio sat at the table.

"Want anything?" Romano asked him.

"Got any tomatoes?" Antonio asked.

"And you wonder why I call you tomato bastard, tomato bastard..." That being said, Romano grabbed two tomatoes out of the fridge.

"Don't act like you aren't the same way, Roma~" Antonio cooed.

"Shut up, bastard." Romano mumbled, handing Antonio one of the tomatoes and sat down at the table.

Antonio began eating his tomato like a apple. Technically, it's a fruit, so it's okay.

"So, what all happened?" Antonio asked.

"We got into a fight about something I'd rather not talk about..."

"Oh, okay. I won't push you to tell me."

Antonio wanted to know, but wouldn't push Romano into telling.

The two chatted for the rest of the evening.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Okay, who's making supper?" Gilbert asked Ludwig, as he walked into the common room, where Ludwig and Feli were playing videogames on the couch.

Feliciano looked up from the game, "I could make pasta? It's the least I can do in exchange for letting me stay here tonig-"

"Nein, Feliciano. You're our guest. I made dinner yesterday, so it's your turn, Gilbert." Ludwig told them.

Gilbert sighed, "Okay, fine. When should I start making it?"

"Doesn't matter." Ludwig mumbled, looking back at the TV, "But preferably soon."

"Okay, I'll start in a few minutes." Gilbert replied, and went back to his room.

"Ludwig, where am I going to sleep?" Feliciano asked.

"I'll sleep on the couch, you can have my bed for the night." Ludwig replied.

"Ve~ Grazie, Luddy!"

Ludwig smiled. God, he loved Feli. But there was no way Feli liked him too. He was always talking about "Pretty bellas". There was no way.

Feliciano curled up on the couch beside him. They were playing Minecraft, solely because Feli had requested it. It was pretty fun, actually. 

They played a while longer, before Gilbert shouted from the kitchen, "Okay! Dinner's ready!"

The two stood up and went to the kitchen. He had made... Something. It looked like fries, with gravy and cheese on top, and hamburgers. 

"Gilbert, what is that?" Ludwig asked.

"Something Matthew taught me how to make! It's really good. It's called poutine." Gilbert smiled. He sat down. So did Ludwig and Feli.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"It's getting late. I assume you want me to leave?" Antonio asked.

Romano really didn't. He wanted Antonio to stay. 

"Y-You can stay if you want, bastard. I don't care."

"Awww, Roma~"

"Shut up, tomato bastard."

The two had just had pasta for dinner. Romano had cooked, and he kind of wanted Antonio to stay. No, he really wanted him to stay. Of course, he couldn't say that. Too embarrassing.

"I'll stay. Just let me let Yao know where I am."

Antonio pulled out his phone to text his roommate.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Ludwig? I can't sleep." 

Ludwig felt a gentle poking on his shoulder. He opened one of his eyes to see Feliciano, not even a hands length away from his face. 

Ludwig jumped back with a small, quiet shout. He hadn't been expecting to see the Italian that close to his face. He quickly regained his composure and asked, "Well, what do you want me to do about that?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

Holyfuckingshit. What had Feli just asked? Ludwig blushed madly. 

"U-uh, I s-suppose? If it'll h-help you sleep?"

Feli took a seat on the couch beside him. He wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, and snuggled close to Ludwig. Ludwig blushed more. He hadn't thought that possible.

"Gott verdammt. Why does he have to be so cute?" Ludwig thought.

Cuddled up next to Ludwig, Feliciano fell asleep.

The night passed, and the two were awoken by Ludwig's phone.

"Ve~ what time is it?" Feliciano asked, opening his eyes slowly. Ludwig stretched slowly.

Ludwig took a moment to realize why Feliciano was with him on the couch. "Oh, yeah." He remembered, "It should be 6:00." He mumbled. He grabbed his phone and muted it. Ludwig stood up and went to wake up Gilbert, while Feliciano adorably flopped back down onto the couch with a quiet grunt. Ludwig stifled a laugh at his antics. He opened the door to Gilbert's room.

"Gilbert, wake up! It's time for school!"

He received a angry grunt in response.

"Gilbert, wake up, or we'll be late!"

"Nooo~" Gilbert groaned, "Fuck off, West..."

"I will come over there and drag you out of bed."

"Do it. You won't." Gilbert dared.

Ludwig walked over to him, grabbed Gilbert by his waist, threw Gilbert over his shoulder, and effortlessly carried him out. 

"No! Wait! West~! West! Put me down!" Gilbert shouted, pounding on Ludwig's back like a child. Feliciano poked his head above the back of the couch, only to fall back down, giggling at the sight.

"You too, Feli. I'll make breakfast." Ludwig called. 

Feliciano complied. He wrapped his blanket around himself and stood up, walking to the kitchen, still giggling at how Ludwig had carried Gilbert. Ludwig finally put Gilbert down on the floor beside the table. Gilbert sat in one of the chairs, and slammed his head on the table. Feliciano sat down beside him. Ludwig looked through the freezer.

"How about waffles? It's the best we've got. We've got to go shopping." Ludwig asked, pulling a box of waffles out of the freezer. Gilbert just grunted angrily, but Feliciano gave a actual reply, "Yay! Waffles!"

"Fuck you, West." Gilbert mumbled

"Nein, danke schön." Ludwig replied, smirking at his brother.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AT ALL, IDIOT!" 

That earned a laugh from Ludwig. He popped two waffles into the toaster. Unfortunately, they only had one. It would take a bit.

"Feliciano, what do you want on your waffles?" Ludwig asked, grabbing three cups and some milk from the fridge.

"Uhm... Whatever you're having!" Feli responded happily.

Ludwig carried the cups of milk over to the table, setting one in front of Gilbert, one in front of Feliciano, and one in front of a empty chair that he would sit in when he was finished the waffles.

Gilbert mumbled something that Feli nor Ludwig could hear. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that Gilbert is older that Ludwig.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Feliks Łukasiewicz, why are you wearing a skirt?"

"'Cuz I feel like it?" Feliks said with a little hair flip.

Toris facepalmed. Of course. A few people just giggled.

"...You can't wear a skirt that short, Feliks." The teacher grumbled.

"I can wear a skirt all I want." Feliks responded, sitting down in his spot.

He had chosen to wear a pink skirt today, with black tights and a too-big sweater with his hair in girly pigtails. The skirt was too short for the school's dress code, however.

"No, Feliks. I didn't say you can't wear a skirt, I only said you can't wear that specific skirt. All skirts worn on school hours, worn by a female or otherwise, must pass your knees." The teacher sighed.

"I don't, like, care." Feliks replied with a eyeroll.

"Feliks Łukasiewicz, if you don't go change, I'll have to send you to the office."

"Come on, Feliks... Just go change..." Toris whispered to his boyfriend, so no-one else could hear.

"I'm like, wearing tights! It's not like it's that bad!" Feliks bit back. Whether it was directed at the teacher, Toris, or both, he didn't know.

"Oh my god... Just... Just go to the office..." The teacher mumbled, faceplalming. A few people around them snickered. He heard a few whispers about Feliks. It frustrated him.

"Fine. I wasn't, like, looking forward to your stupid class anyways." Feliks said, standing up and walking out.

Of course. Toris really had to get him to keep that skirt for weekends. Only weekends.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I cannot believe I'm letting you drag me into this..."

Matthew was excitedly leading Alfred down the hall. School had just ended, and Matthew wanted to sign up for the school band. Alfred wasn't very happy, but he would do it for his brother. The two reached the music room, and pushed open the door, revealing several students chatting or practicing a instrument, or even shuffling around sheet music. To Alfred's suprise, he knew a few people there.

Gilbert was on a flute, playing something. His brother stood at the back of the room, behind four Timpanis, looking slightly confused, but another student was explaining everything to him. Arthur was on a bass guitar, seemingly having no problems, and Roderich was looking at the vibraphone in front of him in confusion. He obviously wasn't used to mallets. 

The music teacher, Ms. Frampton, approached them, "Ah, Matthew! I was told you might sign up for the band program!"

"Yeah, and he dragged me with him..." Alfred grumbled.

"I'm sure it'll be fun!" Matthew told him.

"So, Matthew, I know you play clarinet, but what does your brother play?" The teacher asked.

"Euphonium." Both of the brothers responded at once.

"That's good, we only have one euphonium spot left open! Go ahead and grab euphonium two. Then, you can get your first song from up front. And Matthew, you brought your clarinet, no?"

"Yep!" Matthew said proudly, holding up his instrument case.

"Okay. Go grab a seat with the other clarinets and get your music." 

The two followed their instructions. Matthew looked at his sheet music. The title was in Japanese, from what he could tell. He tried to remember exactly what each character meant, and eventually figured it out.

"Marukaite Chikyuu? That means... Draw a circle earth, or something of the sort. Definitely something about circles and earth." He thought.

The song seemed easy enough. The hardest thing looked to be a few eighth notes halfway through the song. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Gilbert.

"Oh, hi Gil!" Matthew smiled.

"Hey. Wanna try the song together?" He asked.

"Sure." Matthew replied.

Gilbert moves to the seat besides him, and places his music on his stand. 

"What's our tempo?" Matthew asked.

"I guess this." Gilbert tapped his pencil on the stand.

"Got it."

The two counted in and played the first note...

Matthew could immediately tell his clarinet was tuned sharp. He stopped playing. Gilbert stopped too.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's out of tune." Matthew mumbled in frustration, and attempted to tune his instrument.

On the other side of the room, Roderich had never played a vibraphone before.

"So... I just have to hit it? That's all?" Roderich asked. He played piano and violin frequently, but never tried mallet percussion.

"Exactly. And when you see a tie, you pedal." The lead percussionist explained.

Roderich looked back at his sheet music, "It looks easy enough." He mumbled.

"This is just a starter piece. Things get harder." She mumbled, before walking back to her drumset.

Roderich hit one of the bars and pressed the pedal as if trying it. He then looks up at his sheet music and begins playing.

Meanwhile, one of the older euphonium players wouldn't stop pestering Alfred.

"C'mon, you gotta need some kind of help! You're new!" He shouted, poking at Alfred's shoulder.

"I've been playing euphonium since grade six. That's three years. I know what I'm doing..."

"Oh, really? Play this for me." He said, pointing at the sheet music on his stand.

Alfred looked at it. He wasn't the best at sight-reading, but there was no leger lines, so he would be okay.

He started playing. His brother looked back at him in frustration, "It's out of tune, Alfred. It's really flat." He mumbled.

Alfred rolled his eyes, and handed the instrument to his brother. Matthew quickly tuned it, before handing it back, "Play a B flat?" He asked.

Alfred complied. 

"Okay, it's in tune." Matthew told him, turning back to his music stand.

Alfred sighed and went back to trying to prove that he was the hero, and didn't need help.

Meanwhile, Ludwig was not used to playing timpani. He played on a drumset, and drums were already taken by a older student. So, he had been put in front of four huge drums that he had no clue on how to play. He looked at his music. E flat? Which one is E flat? He looks at them again, looking at the small sliders on each of their sides. "There it is." He thought, and hit it with the mallet. Definitely E flat. Okay, he could do this. Simple piece.

The teacher, Ms. Frampton calls attention to herself at the front of the room, "Okay! Band!"

Everyone looks up at her.

"Welcome! So, this is our band class. Allow me to give you information on what we're going to be doing in this room!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to write more of China and Austria... Next chapter! I promise!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

"Lukas! I have a theory!" Matthias shouted, flopping down on the couch.

"Really? It'd better not be something dumb." Lukas replied, not paying any attention to him.

"So, I thought about it for a bi-"

"Wow, you thought about something? You want some Tylenol?"

"Wha- HEY!"

Lukas almost smirked at that.

"Anyways! You know Tino's necklace, and how he freaks out when someone goes to touch it?" Matthias continued.

"Yeah?"

"Well what if that's his charm? Ya know, his National Charm!"

"I doubt Tino's a National Magi."

"But what if he is?"

"..."

"Fine..." Matthias grumbled.

"What'cha doing?" He started back up.

"Listening to an annoyance ramble."

"Why do you hate me, Lukas?"

"You're annoying."

Matthias sat up. This wasn't going anywhere. He could tell. "Wonder if Gilbert's doing anything." He thought, and pulled out his phone. He looked at the time. 3:30. They were still in band. Great. What about Berwald, Tino and Emil? If he could get Emil to do something, Lukas would surely come with them. He decided to text them.

//Matthias: guys I'm bored. Wanna do something?//

//Emil: like what?//

//Matthias: idk//

//Tino: can we have a nerf war then?//

//Emil: NO.//

//Matthias: I would, but I don't wanna get shot in the eye again...//

//Berwald: sure.//

//Lukas: berwald please don't encourage him.//

//Matthias: you're only saying yeah bc you two team ALL THE TIME. You wouldn't be saying that if you were the one who got shot in the face.//

//Tino: ...ok...//

//Tino: we could go swimming, and then go to the sauna...?//

//Emil: I like that idea a lot better.//

//Matthias: but this is literally a paradise island why do we need a sauna//

//Tino: Sauna is love. Sauna is life.//

//Matthias: you're weird.//

/Admin Tino has muted user Matthias for 5 minutes due to DO NOT DISRESPECT THE SAUNA./

//Emil: lol tino//

//Lukas: swimming it is. I'll tell Matthias. He's whining on the couch bc you muted him.//

//Tino: Yay!//

//Berwald: I suppose I'll come too.//

Lukas put his phone down.

"Okay, we're going swimming." He told Mattias.

"Tell them I'm coming..."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"That bitch needs to get off of my ass."

"Feliks."

"Like, really! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Feliks..."

"Honestly! She can go fuck herself! I looked damn good in that skirt!"

"Feliks!"

"What?"

"I agree, you looked good, but that doesn't change the fact that the skirt breaks dress code..."

Feliks just pouted in response.

Toris and Feliks were in their dorm. It was late, and Feliks was ranting. He had gotten himself stuck in afterschool detention. He wasn't pleased.

"But it went past my fingertips!" He complained.

"The rule here is that all skirts have to go past your knees." Toris told him, for the second time that day.

"Then why didn't you tell me when I put it on in the morn-"

"I did, Feliks. You didn't listen to me."

Feliks flopped down on the couch with a sigh.

"Want me to make dinner?" Toris asked.

"Yes, please." Feliks replied.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, "Dorm checks! Open up!"

"Oh, great." Feliks muttered and opened the door.

There were weekly dorm checks to make sure that there wasn't anything illegal on the island. Mainly drugs. The school's officials had a drug dog that they took around the dorm buildings. Feliks had heard that there was one kid who was allergic to dogs, so they also had a drug cat. 

The woman preforming checks took the dog around their dorm. Feliks went into the kitchen area to watch Toris cook.

"What's cooking, good looking?" Feliks asked Toris, smiling slightly. Toris blushed a bit, before replying. 

"Food."

"What kind of food?"

"Dinner food."

"What kind of dinner food?"

"Meat and vegetables"

"What kind of meat?"

"The kind that comes from animals"

"What kind of animal?"

"A mammal."

"Well what kind of mammal?"

"One that has meat."

"What kind of meat?"

"The kind that comes from animals."

"Oh my god just tell me what you're making."

"Mmmmm..." Toris thought about that, "No."

"Jerk!" Feliks cried.

Both of them laughed.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Arthur."

"Arthur."

"Arthur, wake up, stupide."

Arthur finally opened his eyes with a groan. He looked at the source of the voice. Francis. Of course.

"It's time for school, Arthur. Your alarm didn't go off." Francis told him.

"Okay. I'm getting up. What day is it, again?" Arthur mumbled.

"Wednesday."

"Okay. Get out of my room. I'll be out in a few minutes." Arthur dismissed Francis.

It was only the second week, and he'd met so many new people. Alfred, Matthew, Romano, Feliciano, Antonio, Gilbert, Ludwig, Kiku, and...

Francis. His roommate.

Arthur couldn't tell why, but he felt... More comfortable around Francis. He also felt... Odd. It was a feeling he hadn't felt before. He'd only known him for a few weeks, and... Hated and liked him, at the same time, if that's possible. And all the other friends he'd met. They almost felt like a family. People like him. In the school he went to before, there was barely any other Magis. His only family was his mother. And the few friends he did have that were Magis went to a different school. 

But here? He was completely surrounded by people almost just like him. 

He slipped on a shirt, and then grabbed his crystal Union Jack earring, before putting it on.

Almost just like him.

Why did people like him exist? What was his purpose? Why did he need this crystal to live? Was there something that was going to happen where he was needed? What about the other National Magi? He knew they were out there, but where? What if one of the people he had met was one? There had to be a few other National Magi here.

Arthur shook his head. He didn't need to be thinking about this right now. He pulled on some socks and stepped out of his room, into the common room. Francis had made French toast. A cup of tea was set out in front of a plate of French toast on the table, and Francis was already finished his, and was grabbing his things.

"It's already 7:55. Hurry up, it we'll be late." Francis told him. 

Which prompted Arthur to practically chug his tea and nearly choke on his toast. School started at 8:00! They had five minutes?! It took four minutes to walk to the school building, two to get to the locker area, one to get their things and one to get to class! They were practically already late!

Arthur grabbed his bag, and the two practically flew out the door.

"Stupid frog! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" Arthur shouted.

"I didn't even realize the time!" Francis laughed back, as they ran down the hall and into the elevator. 

The elevator.

Crap! Arthur hadn't even accounted for the elevator time! They were lucky it was already there waiting. Francis was laughing and smiling.

Arthur wanted to slap him.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Francis Bonnefoy! Why are you ten minutes late?"

Francis had just walked into class.

"My alarm didn't go off. Neither did my roommate's. I had to wake him up and cook breakfast."

"Detention. Ten minutes at lunch."

"Quoi? Why?"

"Your alarm didn't go off. You must've forgotten to set it."

"Bu-"

"If you argue I'll make it twenty minutes."

Francis didn't bother. The English teacher hated his guts. He took his seat beside Alfred and Matthew. Alfred just laughed at him, while Matthew gave a understanding look.

"I swear, the teach hates you guys!" Alfred whispered.

"Yeah, she gave me a detention, too! I came in with Alfred, and she didn't notice me until after the bell!" Matthew complained.

"Wow." Francis mumbled. Rude.

The teacher had to leave the room to photocopy something, and that's where things got crazy.

"Teacher's gone! Let's make a mess!" Alfred shouted. At that, several people stood up and flipping chairs. Soon, almost everyone, including Francis, was up and flipping chairs and moving tables, among other things. Only a few people weren't participating. Matthew was still sitting in his desk at the back of the room, drawing. Anytime someone came near his desk, he just shooed them away. 

When Mrs. Charleston came back, she took one look at what happened, and flipped, "WHAT DID YOU ALL DO?" She shouted.

A few students hid behind a desk, a few panicked and sat down at one of the few desks that hadn't been overturned, Matthew jumped, but just kept drawing, and one of the students yelled "FUCK YOU!" While standing on a desk.

The teacher left. Probably to get the principal.

"GUYS! Put everything back where it was! Let's make the teacher look crazy!" Matthew shouted, looking up from his drawing. Only a few heard his quiet voice, but Alfred echoed him and everyone began working. A few even put open binders on the desks for effect. 

By the time Mrs. Charleston got back with the principal and two other teachers, the room was cleaned, besides a few mis-placed pencils on the floor. Everyone pretended to be working.

"What? I-I swear! It was just a huge mess! The desks?! How did you?" She stammered.

"Lena, we need to have a discussion..." The principal whispered, and pulled the teacher into a side room.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"You actually did that?" Arthur asked.

It was lunch. Matthew and Alfred were sitting with Arthur and Francis, as usual, and were bragging about their little stunt earlier.

"Yep. Every year, too. This is our third time." Matthew whispered. Of course, that's his normal volume, so is it really whispering?

"Perks of having a twin brother with lunar magic." Alfred smiled, draping a arm around Matthew's shoulders.

"You can go invisible with lunar magic?" Francis asked, shocked.

"Yep." Matthew held up a hand, making it invisible before everyone's eyes, "It's not perfect invisibility, because you still have a shadow and stuff, but it's perfect for hiding a teacher's papers."

"Or sneaking into a staff room and bumping up my grades." Alfred added.

"Wait, what?" Gilbert asked, as he sat down beside Alfred. He had already heard about their stunt on break, but this was new.

"Yep! Mattie here once snuck into a staff room and changed my math grade for me!" Alfred bragged. Matthew shrunk away slightly.

"Not my fault, he held five bags of my maple candy hostage." Matthew muttered angrily, trying to look threatening. He looked more adorable than threatening however, which made Alfred laugh.

Eventually Ludwig, Feliciano and Romano joined them, even though Romano didn't want to.

Lunch was full of laughs, storytelling, and trading snacks. Until the principal came to get Alfred and Matthew.

"Alfred and Matthew." The principal put her hand on both of their shoulders. Both jumped slightly.

"Merde." Matthew mumbled upon realizing that the principal was there.

"You two have some explaining to do. Come with me." 

Matthew and Alfred did so. The walk to the office was quiet.

Alfred soon muttered, "We are in so much trouble." 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Heracles! Pay attention!"

Heracles woke up from his nap. It was science class. He could care less about science.

"Yes, miss!" He replied anyways.

God, he hated this class. The teacher was so boring, the class itself was boring, the room was boring, the way the material was taught was boring, too. He wished it was history class. History was far more interesting.

He looked to his right at Kiku. He seemed really interested. What was even being taught? He looked at the board. Aerodynamics? Boring.

What could the school even do if he wasn't paying attention? Call his parents? They were in Greece. That wouldn't do anything. Besides, as long as he passed the tests, he would pass grade 9, right? Right. He could do that. The worksheets that the teacher handed out taught him enough.

Speaking of worksheets, one had just appeared on his desk. Aerodynamics this, aerodynamics that. 

Fun. 

That was sarcasm.

He skimmed over the sheet. He already knew this! This is grade 6 material! Maybe it's just a review? Probably. 

Wait, is Kiku already done? How? 

Heracles then got to work.

Until the bell rang. Wait... His sheet was done? Oh. That's Kiku's writing. Kiku did it for him. He looked up at Kiku 

"You fell asleep again, so I did it for you. No point in getting homework." Kiku mumbled when he noticed Heracles's curious gaze. 

Both of them sat up. Damn, what period was it? Heracles looked at the clock. 2:10. School was finished. Nice.

"You have to stop falling asleep in class. It's a bad habit." Kiku told him.

"I know. It's just so boring..."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Hey, Francis? Why do you always wear that necklace?"

Francis and Arthur were walking home quietly, and Arthur was getting curious.

"Could he also be a National Magi?" Arthur thought.

"A-Ah, it's just something mon Papa gave to me when I was young. Nothing super special, but it means a lot to me." Francis told him.

Francis knew that was a lie. 

Thankfully, Arthur believed him, for the time being.

"What about your earring?" Francis asked.

"Same as you. My mother gave it to me before I left to come here." Arthur told him.

Arthur knew that was a lie.

The two were about to enter the dorm building, but a voice from behind them stopped them.

"Arthur! Francis! Wait!"

They both turned around. Alfred. Walking behind him was Matthew.

"You guys wanna come to the arcade?" Alfred asked, "A few others are coming, too! Gilbert, Antonio, the Vargas brothers, I think Gilbert convinced Ludwig to come, too!" He shouted enthusiastically.

"I'm coming too, don't forget about me." Matthew murmured.

Francis agreed, "I'll come. You coming, Arthur?"

"Well, nothing better to do tonight. I suppose." Arthur mumbled.

Alfred seemed more exited than before, as he shouted, "Let's go!"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"This place somehow looks bigger on the inside." Matthew whispered.

The four had arrived at the arcade, and were looking for their friends.

Alfred had his phone out and was trying to find the other group, "We should be able to find them. They've got Ludwig with them. That guy's tall as hell." He mumbled.

"Found them." Arthur mumbled.

The others followed Arthur's gaze.

Romano was yelling at Ludwig. Of course.

"But I didn't even do anything?" Ludwig looked very confused.

"You-" Romano stopped mid sentence and looked at Feliciano, who looked slightly agitated.

"Woah. Look at Feli! He almost looks... Mad! I didn't know that was possible!" Alfred exclaimed.

Feliciano and Romano looked at eachother for a few moments, before Romano sighed, and muttered, "Fine." And backed off.

Immediately, Feliciano perked back up.

"Hey guys!" Alfred shouted. The group took notice immediately.

"Oh, Alfred! You brought... The..." Gilbert paused as his eyes fell on something on Alfred's chest.

Alfred looked down.

His charm was glowing slightly.

Alfred quickly grabbed it and put it beneath his sweater.

"It reflects light sometimes." Alfred told him, "Anyways! What are we gonna do?" He asked, excited. He tried to brush off the fact that his charm was glowing and someone saw. A gentle poke in the side from Matthew told him he'd be in trouble later.

"Well, we were gonna just go around the arcade and try to win a few prizes." Gilbert explained, still seeming suspicious.

"Sounds good." Matthew whispered, glancing sideways at his brother.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"So, earlier, in the arcade." 

Gilbert and Ludwig were in their dorm, eating dinner.

"What about earlier? Romano yelling at me, Feliciano acting strange, the way you almo-"

"No, none of that. With Alfred's necklace." Gilbert looked his brother in the eyes, oddly serious.

"What about Alfred's necklace?" Ludwig asked. This was new.

"It was GLOWING."

"Wait, what?"

"The necklace that he has? Looks like a American flag? It was glowing, Ludwig." Gilbert told him.

"...You're pulling my leg, aren't you?" Ludwig asked.

"No. I'm serious, Ludwig."

"Do you think he's a-"

"Yes. I do."

"There's no way."

"It was glowing. He was excited. It was reacting to his emotions. Like yours does sometimes."

They both paused, before Ludwig picked the conversation back up.

"Well, what do we do in this situation?" 

"Matthew is from Canada. Matthew is his brother. Do you think?"

"I doubt it."

"I don't."


	8. A/N

Hey all!

So, this is a little bit awkward, so I'll get right to the point. 

There will be no chapter today. I am not giving up on this story though.

The reason is that I've had writer's block for this story, and I've only gotten three parts of the chapter down. The next chapter will probably come this time next week. 

If you want, though, I did write a bit for my other fanfiction, which is literally just the Nations in a chatroom being dicks to eachother. 

Love ya all, Luna96 <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Just before this chapter begins, I want to thank everyone who has read or commented on this story. Thank you all so much! It's so nice to know that there are people who enjoy my writing! I love you all! <3
> 
> Without further ado, on to the chapter!

"I'm telling you! There are National Magi at this school!" Kaleb shouted, slamming his latest theory papers on the coffee table with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Kaleb, you're insane. How are you not in a asylum?" Ms. Frampton asked bluntly.

Mrs. Honda, Ms. Frampton and Mr. Lexington were sitting around a table in their room.

"I got milkshakes~! Who wants one?” Mrs. Ruby strolled in with four milkshakes in her arms.

"One for you, one for you, one for you, and one for me!" She said, smiling and placing milkshakes down onto the coffee table in front of everyone.

"Thank you." Mrs. Honda smiled back.

Ruby plopped herself down onto the couch beside her sister.

"Anyways. Kaleb, I'm sure if Kiku was a... 'National Magi' he would've said something." Akia told him.

"Why do you always look like a excited anime boy, Kaleb?" Ruby commented. Kaleb ignored her.

"National Magi keep to themselves. They don't tell their parents or friends! At all!" He exclaimed.

"And how do you know this?" Cassandra asked.

"I read it online!"

"...Seriously?" 

"Yep!"

Ruby giggled, "Evidently, he's a excited, stupid anime boy!"

"...I agree completely." Akia added.

"Oh come on guys! It's true! National Magi exist!" Kaleb whined.

"Whiny anime boy!" Ruby giggled more.

"Stop that! I am not a anime boy!" He cried.

"Mmmm... Nope! I gave you a milkshake!"

"I hate you."

"Lies, you love me."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"H-Hold on guys, I'm gonna sneeze." 

The Nordic 5 were walking along the beach together, chatting and eating snacks they had bought. Emil turned towards the water, away from the others, and sneezed.

As expected, ash exploded out of his nose.

Emil rubbed his nose a bit. Great. Now it was itchy.

No-one really knew why Emil sneezed up ashes. When someone asked, Emil just told them that he would rather not say, or change the subject. So, the rest of the Nordic 5 just assumed it was because of his powers. Magma and Fire. No-one really minded. Worse case scenario, they get a few odd looks. So what?

"You good?" Matthias asked.

"Yep." Emil mumbled, turning back towards the others.

"Hey, Tino! Truth or dare?" Matthias looked at Tino.

"Uh... Truth!" Tino answered.

"What's your necklace for? What I mean is why is it so important to you?"

Tino tensed up slightly, "Uh... Backball!"

"What? You can't just do that!" Matthias complained.

"But I can." Tino replied.

"...Chicken out." Matthias murmured.

"Emil! Truth or dare?" Tino smiled.

"Dare." Emil answered.

"I double dare you to you to tell us why you sneeze out ashes."

"I'd rather not say."

"That's against the rules!" Tino told him.

"I don't care. I'm not telling." 

"...Fine."

Everyone was quiet for a minute, before Matthias decided it would be a great idea to ask a question.

"You know those myths that there are Magi that represent their Nations?"

Everyone tensed at the question. As expected by Matthias.

"Yes, why?" Emil looked at him cautiously.

"Well, what if one of us is one of them, and the others just don't know it?" Matthias finished.

Matthias knew that Lukas and him were both National Magi, and suspected Emil and Tino, but was unsure of Berwald.

"I doubt that, Matthias!" Tino replied, nervousness just barely audible in his voice.

"Well, then I have a confession to make!" Matthias told them.

"Matthias, no. Sto—" Lukas began, but was interrupted by Matthias.

"I feel like we all have something we aren't telling everyone else, and I think it's time that we share those things!" He looked around quickly, checking for anyone else that might be within earshot, "I'll start! I'm the National Magi of Denmark!"

Everyone froze. The only thing that broke the silence was the gentle sounds of the sea beside them.

Berwald looked at Tino expectantly. Tino looked irritated, and Berwald almost smiled a bit.

"...Fine. You win, Berwald. I'll give you your twenty dollars when we get back to the dorm.." Tino sighed, with a small, awkward smile on his face.

"You guys made a bet on that?" Lukas asked.

"Y's. 'nd I j'st w'n 't." Berwald replied.

"Well, I guess now that that's out of the bag, I should confess too. I'm the National Magi of Finland." Tino mumbled.

"Sw'd'n h'r'."

"I just happen to be the National Magi of Norway."

Everyone looked expectantly at Emil.

"National Magi of Iceland. That's also probably why I sneeze up ash. Iceland's volcanoes." Emil told them.

Cue awkward silence.

"Well!" Matthias exclaimed, turning towards the water with a smile,"This just means we're even closer now! We know eachother's most important secrets!"

"I suppose." Lukas looked out at the ocean. 

"Yep!" Tino said excitedly, following suit.

"Mmhm" Berwald agreed, doing the same.

"Yeah." Emil smiled calmly, as he turned towards the water too.

A silent agreement was made between the five, as they all glanced out at the gorgeous orange sun setting on the shimmering ocean.

They're family. 

No matter what.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"So, you're my new roommate?"

"I guess..."

Yao had just been switched to a new dorm. His old roommate, Antonio, wanted to share with one of his friends. So, Yao was put into a room with this boy.

"Well, go ahead and unpack your bags. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Roderich told Yao.

Yao looked up at the clock on the wall. 5:00. It would be dinner time soon. Wait... What room was his? Great. He pushed the door open to the first room gently. The room was a bit of a mess. There was a violin lying in its case against a keyboard on a stand, with sheet music scattered around the room. Did his new roommate like to play music? Interesting.

Yao figured he shouldn't snoop, so he closed the door and walked to the other room. He pushed the door open. Empty, save for a bed, dresser, headboard and table. Nothing on them, besides a light on the headboard. Well, time to set up.

He put his bags on top of the dresser, and began to unpack. The first bag was just full of clothes. Nothing important. The other bag held all of his personal belongings. He quickly put all of his clothes into the dresser, and then started on his other things.

"Wait, where's the case for my earring?" Yao muttered. He searched through the bag. Where is it? His hand clutched something small and rectangular. There it is. He put the case carefully on his headboard. 

The then pulled the stuff from the other bag out. His binder, his clarinet, and a few other things. He put it all on his dresser, neatly organizing it, before grabbing his phone charger and laptop. He put the laptop on the table, and plugged in his phone charger, before moving on to making his bed. Once it was made, he decided to go and see what his roommate was making, maybe get to know him a little.

He pushed open the door into the common room. The common room was filled with the light of the setting sun through the window. The view was different from his previous room. It was the southern side of the island, rather the western. He looked into the kitchen portion, to see his roommate cooking something he didn't recognize. 

"What's that, aru?" Yao asked, looking at the food.

"Something a friend taught me to make. I forget what it's called. You could probably Google it." Roderich muttered, "It's Austrian, if that helps."

Yao made an annoyed face, "Aiyaa. Yeah, that definitely helps." He said sarcastically.

Roderich gave him a glare, "I take it you got your room set up?"

"Yeah." Yao told him.

"It's practically ready. Can you grab some plates and put them on the table for me?" Roderich asked, although it felt a bit more like a command.

"Sure." Yao told him. He walked to the cupboard and grabbed two plates, before returning to the table and placing them down. He sat down as Roderich came and put food on the plates, placing forks on them, too.

"So." Roderich started, "I hope that you aren't bothered by music, like my last roommate. I tend to play the piano very often."

"I don't mind, aru." Yao told him. Interesting.

"And sometimes my annoying cousin comes in uninvited. He shouldn't bother you."

"Okay."

 

"Oh, and I don't want anyone in my room. If Gilbert, that's my cousin, comes, don't let him into my room. He's albino, really loud. You'll know him when you see him."

"Got it."

_-_-_-_-_-_-

Romano was agitated. Well, more so than usual. Why? Feli had dragged him out with Ludwig. Fun. 

Feliciano had run ahead, splashing in the waves on the beach barefoot. The warm sand felt nice, but didn't change the fact that he had to stand beside the potato bastard.

Stupid bastard. Feli was always talking about Ludwig this and Ludwig that. It annoyed him. Why didn't Feli understand that Ludwig would just hurt him eventually? He can be so dumb sometimes.

"Ludwig! Romano! You should come in! The water's nice!" Feliciano shouted back to them. Romano glared at the blond next to him.

"I'd rather not. You know I don't really like swimming." Romano told Feliciano.

"Maybe in a few minutes, Feli." Ludwig looked away.

"Awww... Okay!" Feli frowned.

Ludwig looked to be deep in thought, as he sat down on the golden sand. He looked at Romano, who noticed immediately.

"What are you looking at, you bastard?" Romano muttered.

"...Nothing..." Ludwig told him, looking at the water again.

Romano grumbled in frustration. He was clearly thinking about something. 

"I know you're thinking about something, bastard." Romano glanced sideways at him.

"It's... Personal." Ludwig mumbled.

"Is it really?" Romano asked, turning his head.

"Ja."

"Fine." He looked back at the water. 

Feliciano was splashing water around playfully. He seemed happy, occasionally he dove down under the water.

This time, when he came back up, held something in his hands.

"Look! Romano! Ludwig! I caught a fish with my hands!" He shouted, holding the fish up in the air, "Quick! Take a photo!"

Romano grabbed his phone and stood up, quickly walking to the shore to get a photo.

He powered it on and opened the camera, before quickly taking a photo of his little brother. 

"Okay, got it. Put him back in the water now, Feli." Romano told him.

"Ve~ okay!" Feliciano smiled, leaning down, dipping his hands into the water and releasing the fish.

So cheerful, and loved by everyone... Romano wished that he was like that sometimes. But of course, if all of his dreams came true, would he really be himself? No. He wouldn't.

Feliciano smiled, turning around and making grabby hands at Romano's phone, wanting to see the photo. Romano turned his phone and showed it to Feliciano. The picture looked good.

Feliciano walked back onto the shore. Romano couldn't help but notice that Ludwig was looking at Feliciano's necklace. His Charm. Great. Did he know? How would he? That wasn't possible. He hadn't told anyone. Was he suspicious? No, Romano was overthinking this. 

The sun was beginning to set. They needed to get home. 

"Feli, let's go. It's getting late." Romano told him.

"Okay." Feliciano complied, sounding quite tired, but still smiling. The two walked back onto the sand, and Feliciano grabbed his bag, pulling out a shirt. He slid it on, before throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"Ve~ Luddy, I'm tired... Can I have a piggyback ride? Please?" Feliciano asked Ludwig tiredly.

"Uh... Er..." Ludwig looked to Romano for approval. Romano rolled his eyes before nodding.

"Sure." Ludwig crouched down, allowing for Feliciano to climb onto his back. Feliciano did so, and stood back up, holding Feliciano.

Feliciano wrapped his arms around Ludwig gratefully, "Gratzie, Ludwig!"

Ludwig smiled a bit, with a small blush, frusturating Romano. They began walking to the dorms. Halfway through the walk, Feliciano fell asleep on Ludwig's back.

"Okay. Potato bastard, I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to answer me." Romano told him, aggressively.

"...Ask away, I guess?" Ludwig was confused.

"Do you like my brother?"

Ludwig began to answer, but was cut off. "What? Yes, of course. He's my best frien-"

"No, I mean in a romantic way, idiot." Romano clarified.

"Well... Um..." Ludwig stuttered

"So yes?"

"...Maybe." Ludwig looked down, a pink blush dusting his face.

"I see." Romano muttered.

"You... Aren't angry?" Ludwig asked, confused.

"Yes. I am very angry, but... Feli likes you. A lot. I've noticed. I also don't want to wake him up." Romano answered.

"Oh." Ludwig acknowledged, "By the way, do you know where Feli got his necklace? I... Recognize it from somewhere."

"A-Ah... I... No, bastard." Romano stuttered.

Ludwig quietly acknowledged that.

"Where do you recognize it from?" Romano asked.

"Nowhere. It doesn't matter." Ludwig answered. They finished the walk to their dorms in awkward silence.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Like, how about this one? I think the pink suits me!"

"You look great."

Feliks and Toris were at one of the many shops on the island. Due to what had happened earlier that week, Toris had encouraged Feliks to get new clothes. Feliks rarely wore anything made for men. He preferred feminine clothes.

Feliks had just stepped out of the changing room with a bright pink maxi skirt on, and was now twirling around.

Feliks stopped twirling around for a moment to look at his boyfriend, "You don't sound very excited..." He told him, a hint of agitation in his voice.

"Oh?" Toris asked, "Sorry. I really am interested. I'm just... A little distracted." He mumbled, looking away.

"Really? By what?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Really." Toris looked back at Feliks.

Feliks paused for a moment, "...Like, if you say so..." 

"Anyways!" Toris continued, "I think you definitely should get that one. It looks good on you. But I do think you should get some boy's clothes, too..." Toris suggested.

"But why—?" Feliks whined.

"Because. You are a boy, Feliks..."

"I know, but I totally like girl's clothes more!"

"Whatever. It was just a suggestion." Toris told him, "Go get changed into the next one. I wanna see that one."

"Okay! I'll be right back!"

Toris looked down at his lap from where he was sitting, waiting for Feliks to return. His thoughts returning to the "distraction" once more.

Toris attempted to lean back in his chair, but flinched. As usual. Ivan and his friends... They hadn't tried anything for a while... Normally they bullied Toris and two of his friends, Raivis and Eduard. The three had always been there for eachother, but lately, they hadn't been in contact. Toris was particularly worried about Raivis. They also hadn't been near them lately, but Toris was still on guard. Ivan and his group had given him scars that no sixteen year old should possess. Feliks didn't know about them, thank god for that. Who knew what Feliks would do if he saw the scars.

Toris sighed sadly. They would have to get together some time.

Just then, Feliks came out of the small change room he was in.

"So, like, how does this one look?" He asked excitedly, sporting a black skirt and a gray v-neck shirt.

"Looks good. I like it. Is it comfortable?" Toris asked.

"Very! I like this one." Feliks told him, "Okay, your turn! Did you pick out anything?"

"Yeah. Change back into your normal clothes first." Toris reminded.

"Oh! Yeah, I should probably, like, do that."

Feliks disappeared back into the change room, before coming back out in the outfit he had on before he entered the changeroom for the first time.

Toris entered the room and closed the door. He placed the shirt he was trying on on the bench next to him. He then removed the shirt he was wearing, and turned around so his back was visible in the mirror, before looking into the mirror, still turned, and inspecting his back.

Long, ugly scars cover his back. Some scrapes, some cuts, some newer then others. All of them brought back painful memories. He traced one of the scars on his shoulder, shuddering as he remembered exactly what had happened that day. That one wasn't the bullies. He had almost died that day. The best, and worst, day of his life. The day that he became different. 

He looked down at the small crystal hanging from his neck, bearing the colours of the Lithuanian flag. He remembered how he had found it beside him just after he had almost lost his life. He owed it his life. The day it was... "Given" to him, technically, though it wasn't actually given to him by a person...

 

"Toris? You almost done in there?" Feliks called from outside.

 

"U-Uh, yeah! One second!" Toris shouted back. 

 

He grabbed the shirt off of the bench beside him, and slipped it on. He shook his head, as if to clear it, before opening the changeroom door to show Feliks.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"N-No! This can't be happening!" Matthew cried mentally, "I'm only six! What about Alfred? And Mama?" His tiny hands pounded against the ice. It was colder than he could possibly handle, and he was drowning. He couldn't find the hole he had fallen through.

 

It was dark, the only light was the moonlight shining from beyond the ice. Matthew was running out of time. He would have to use his magic. But would his limited power be enough?

He pushed himself away from the ice layer keeping him trapped in the frozen lake. He brought his hands to his chest. He had already tried moving the ice with magic, so he would have to break it with arcane energy. He attempted to form a orb between his hands, but instead of his normally violet arcane energy, the orb that formed was red and white.

Matthew could barely see. He thought nothing of it. He shot the orb at the ice, making cracks. He formed another. He was growing weaker... He barely had seconds left. He wouldn't die of the cold. He would drown. He knew that. He shot the second orb at the ice. More cracks. He didn't have time for this! He didn't want to die! 

The next thing he knew, he was lying on top of the ice, coughing up water. He had tears in his eyes. He was cold, soaked, and scared, but alive. What had happened? He didn't remember a thing...

A warm feeling formed in his right fist, and a small glow. He opened his hand, revealing a small charm. A silver maple leaf, with small red crystals embedded in the ends. He inspected it, before memories of the past thirty minutes came back to him.

"Mattie..." A voice called. Matthew looked around, confused.

"Mattie! Wake up! We'll be late!"

Wait... Late? Wake up?

...Oh.

Matthew opened his eyes.

He was lying in the center of his floor, sprawled out, clenching a blanket. 

"...Nightmares again?" Alfred asked.

Matthew sat up, realization flooding him, "Y-Yeah. When I almost drowned..." 

"Oh. Well, get up. It's time for school." Alfred informed him.

"Okay. Give me a few." Matthew told him. Alfred left the room.

Matthew looked around to remind himself of his current situation. He's safe. He's 16 now. Ten years have passed. Matthew brought a hand up to his eye, ridding it of tears. Recurring nightmares of near death experiences are not fun.

He looked over at the box that held his necklace. He stood up and prepared himself for school.

_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Romano, calm down..." 

"NO! I REFUSE TO FUCKING CALM DOWN!"

"Romano, please..." 

"No! I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE POTATO BASTARD IS IN LOVE WITH MY BROTHER!"

Romano and Antonio were walking down the hall to first period, in which they weren't with Feliciano or Ludwig, and Romano was ranting to Antonio.

"Roma~ do you need a hug...?" Antonio asked cheerily.

"NO! I DO NOT NEED A FUCKING HU—" Romano started, but was interrupted by Antonio practically jumping on him, holding him into a hug.

Romano paused, half tempted to push Antonio off of him, but accepted the hug with a quiet mumble of "Bastard..."

Antonio smiled his usual cheerful smile, and held Romano for a few moments, before releasing him.

"Better?" Antonio asked.

"...I guess." Romano muttered in response.

"Good!"

They continued down the hall, before Antonio asked Romano, "Why do you even hate Ludwig that much? What did he do?"

"He's all my stupid brother talks about! He's taking my brother away from me!" Romano shouted, "My brother is an idiot to love someone like him! Ludwig will just hurt him in the end! I know it!"

"Well," Antonio started, "Sometime you just have to let love take its course, Romano. If Ludwig isn't the right one for Feli, then he'll realize eventually." He told Romano, completely sincere.

Romano paused. That wasn't a tone that Antonio used often. He was serious. Romano didn't know what to say. He was tied between yelling at him and telling him he's right.

Instead, Romano asked a question, "How would you know?"

"When you've been in as many relationships as I have, you learn a thing or too." 

"Hm." Romano acknowledged.

The two stopped. They had arrived at the art room.

How fun.

Romano didn't particularly hate art class. It was just that his brother always got a A or A+, while he always got A-, or B. It annoyed him.

Antonio pushed the door open, and the two stepped in. The teacher hadn't quite arrived yet, so it was just a few students, and the class was in chaos. One student was standing atop a desk, with a few others gathered around him telling him to do a flip. A few students were watching from their desks, and a few were completely disinterested. Romano was one of them. Antonio and Romano sat down in their desks, fortunately and unfortunately right next to eachother. Romano put his head down on his desk, resting it on his hand. Beside him, Antonio was watching the scene of the student on top of the desk, seemingly waiting.

The student decided it was an amazing idea to do a backflip off of the desk. He did so, but instead of landing on his feet, he landed back-first on the floor. Ouch. Now Romano was slightly more interested.

"Ow!" The student cried out. A few people laughed as the student sat up. The student himself laughed a bit, before rubbing his back, muttering to himself. Romano snickered a little. 

"Oh my god are you okay?" One girl asked the fallen boy, giggling.

"Yeah." The boy told her, standing up. None of them had realized that the teacher had entered.

"Are you lot having fun?" The teacher asked rhetorically, "Good, because you won't be at recess. Jacob, you have detention with me at recess."

The boy, now identified as Jacob, groaned in agitation.

"Everyone, eyes up front. We're going to be working with watercolour paints today."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again! Sorry for how short this was. I hope you liked the scenes with the Nordics and Poland and Lithuania. 
> 
> The other Baltics and Russia will appear later on, mostly as side characters in Lithuania's bits.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Ring! Ring!

Ludwig stared at the phone on the in table in irritation.

Ring! Ring!

He decided to finally pick up. Gilbert had been texting and calling him all day. Ludwig had gotten sick for the first time in a few years. Ludwig was never sick, so Gilbert was very worried.

"...Hallo Gilbert..."

Gilbert immediately snapped into worried big brother mode. "Oh mein Gott west! You didn't pick up, and I got worried, and... You're okay? Are you throwing up at all? Do you have a—" 

"I'm fine. It's really just a cold... I have a slight cough and my nose is a bit runny. That's all." Ludwig muttered, "And a headache. And aches in my chest." He added mentally.

"Are you sure? No headaches? Nothing else? Do you need a bee—" Gilbert asked.

Ludwig sighed, cutting him off, "That's illegal here... I'm sixteen. So are you."

"German law. This is international land. I'll get you a beer." Gilbert argued.

"But, Gilbert, we'll get in troub—" Ludwig began, but was interrupted.

"It says in the school rule package that laws vary based on... The individual's country of origin. That means WE have to follow German law I think. And in Germany, me getting you a beer is legal."

"Look! It says on the sign on this store" Gilbert started, "Blah blah blah... rules, more rules... adult supervision... Weekends only... Written permission... Ugh, so many regulations... blah blah blah... All customers entering this store must be of legal drinking age IN THEIR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN! Our country of origin is Germany! We'll be fine!"

Ludwig sighed again. He couldn't hear half of what Gilbert had said. Then again, A beer did sound kinda nice...

"Fine. Get me o—" Ludwig was interrupted by a rising feeling in his stomach. Wait just a second...

"O-One second, Gilbert!" Ludwig nearly shouted before putting Gilbert on hold and running to the washroom portion of their room. 

He hunched over the toilet, before gagging and throwing up. Could he actually be sick? He then noticed something.

Where's his necklace?

_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Look at what I found!" Kaleb shouted, holding something black, red and gold up on a chain for the others in the room to see.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "It's a necklace, Kaleb. What's so special?"

"It looks like a German flag! And! I think it belongs to Ludwig Beilschmidt! He left it in my class!" Kaleb exclaimed.

"...so?"

"I am one step closer to finding out who the National Magis are!"

Cassandra's face, meet table.

"I got milkshakes for everyone again! One for lil' sister, one for Akia, and one for the anime boy!" Ruby smiled, entering the room and giving everyone a shake.

"I am not little." Cassandra muttered, her head not leaving the table.

"Ah. Thank you, Ruby." Akia smiled.

"I AM NOT AN ANIME BOY! I-I'll take the milkshake, though..."

As Cassandra lifted her face from the table to look at the people around her, Kaleb began speaking again.

"Anyways! If I'm correct, this not being with Ludwig should make him sick in some way. Then, I should know!"

Bang!

Wow, Cassandra! Your face and that table are really great friends!

"Lil' sister, you're gonna break your nose doing that..." Ruby complained.

Akia pitched in, "If this is true, why are you purposefully making one of our students sick?"

"I'll call Mr. Beilschmidt down to the lost and found in a hour. As soon as the necklace is returned, he should begin feeling much better." Kaleb replied.

"Now, if my face wasn't already on the table, it would be, once again. Kaleb Lexington, it is a wonder you're here right now." Cassandra muttered.

"Stop hitting your face off of the stupid table and drink your milkshake, lil' sister."

"...Okay..."

_-_-_-_-_-

"Like, get lost. We won't stand for this."

"Mmm... How about no?"

Ivan and his group were up in Toris and Feliks' faces, though their self-proclaimed "Leader", Ajax, was the one speaking. Feliks and Toris had been shoved against a tall rock on the beach and were being bullied. Feliks was trying to defend them.

"C'mon, Ivan! Get in on the fun!" One of the girls called to him. Ivan seemed distracted and upset as he stared out over the water.

"A-Ah," He stuttered, "Not today, Lena. I'm thinking about something." 

"Fine. You do your thing." Lena muttered.

Ajax continued, "Well? Maybe, if you give me something, we'll leave you alone." He told them, before his eyes settled on something wrapped around Feliks's neck.

"How about that? Hand it over, and we'll leave you alone." He said, pointing at the necklace. It appeared to be the Polish coat of arms.

"N-No way! This is really important to me!" Feliks shouted, clutching the necklace. This alerted a nearby group of people to what was happening.

One of them turned around and immediately his eyes fell upon Ajax.

"Ajax." He said calmly, but angrily at the same time. Immediately Ajax jumped and looked at him.

"H-Heracles!" Ajax's eyes widened.

"Leave them alone. Or else." Heracles threatened.

"C-Come on, guys. Let's go..." Ajax muttered, glaring at Heracles, who just glared back. Ajax left down the beach, his group slowly following. Except for Ivan, oddly enough. After a few more moments of just staring out at the water, Ivan followed the others. 

Toris looked back to Heracles, the guy who had helped them. He was sitting with someone else calmly, relaxing under the sun as if nothing had happened. Feliks elbowed him.

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing subtly at Heracles.

"No clue." Toris replied.

Then, a blond boy dove down into the sand beside them, and a few others joined them, jogging and laughing behind the first boy. Toris knew a few. The boy who had dove into the sand was Alfred. So eccentric. They were... Friends? No, more like acquaintances. His brother was jogging behind. Was it... Maxwell? No... Matthew! That's it. 

Toris and Feliks were about to go mind their own business, but Alfred called out to them.

"Yo! Toris! Who's your friend? Come and chill with us!"

Well, it would be rude to say no.

_-_-_-_-_-_-

"And then I punched him in the face. Twenty times."

"So that's why he's so like, afraid of you."

Toris and Feliks had joined the group on the beach, thanks to Alfred. Honestly, it was more fun than being alone, even if he was with Feliks. The group consisted of Heracles, Kiku, Alfred, Matthew, Francis, Antonio, Yao, and, of course, Feliks and himself.

"Yo! Iggy!" Alfred shouted.

"What? And don't call me that!" Arthur replied.

"Truth or dare?" Alfred asked.

"Truth." Arthur told him.

"Do you have a crush on anyone here?" Alfred asked excitedly.

"U-Uh... Backball." Arthur mumbled.

"What? That's not allowed!" 

"Yes it is!" 

"Fine... No, I don't." Alfred muttered, disappointed, "But since you backballed, I get my turn back!"

"What? That's not how it works!" Arthur complained.

"Yes, it is!" Alfred mocked, agitating Arthur, "Anyways, Toris! Truth or dare?"

"Uh... Truth!" Toris told him.

"Do YOU have a crush on anyone here?" Alfred inquired.

"A-Actually, I'm with Feliks." Toris informed them nervously, Feliks grabbing his hand.

A chorus of "Oh."s and understanding nods are seen and heard around the circle.

"Oh, okay. Your turn to ask!" Alfred continued.

"Um..." Toris began, "I don't know. Can I give my turn to Feliks?" He asked.

"I guess? There's no rules against that, so sure." Alfred told him.

Feliks smirked, "Okay then! Francis! Truth or dare!" He asked, smirking still.

"Dare!" Francis smiled.

"I, like, dare you to try on one of my dresses!" Feliks told him, smiling.

Francis's smile faded almost immediately. Antonio, who was sitting beside him, snickered, "I'm taking a photo of that!" Antonio told him.

"You will not!" Francis exclaimed, "Chicken out!" Francis told the group.

"You used your chicken out earlier, Francis! You gotta do this one!" Alfred laughed.

"...Merde." Francis muttered, but then he remembered, "RAINBOW! HA! NOW EVERYONE HAS TO WEAR A DRESS!"

"YOU TIT!"

"MIERDA!"

"...Aiyaa! Really? This is going to be so embarrassing, aru..."

"I'M RECORDING THIS!" Alfred shouted.

"No, stop!" Matthew slapped at his elbow 

Feliks was laughing and shouting something in Polish that Toris couldn't quite make out, and Francis was quietly snickering.

Feliks finally sat up and looked at everyone, "Okay! To our dorm! I have enough for everyone!"

Francis continued snickering, "This is so worth it to see everyone in dresses!" 

The group finally stood up, with several whines of annoyance and protest. Feliks was leading, and Toris asked a question.

"Does this mean I have to wear a dress, too?"

Feliks grinned, "Yep! You aren't an exception!"

"...Crap."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Name, please?"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt. I need to pick something up for my brother. He's busy."

Gilbert was at the main office, picking up Ludwig's necklace from the lost and found. He glanced up at the clock. About five minutes before lethargy started. Great...

"Here you are. Are you sure this is your brother's?" The secretary asked politely, holding Ludwig's necklace.

"Yep. One hundred percent sure." Gilbert told her. 

"Okay. Here you are." She said, handing over the necklace.

"Danke." Gilbert thanked her, before turning around and headed back to their dorm. Four minutes.

It hopefully wouldn't take too long to get upstairs. He didn't want Ludwig to get worse. He entered the elevator, quickly pressing the button to go up to their floor, and waited, ticking down the seconds.

The elevator doors closed, and it began moving. It shouldn't take that long. He should be able to get it to Ludwig before the next symptoms stared. It wasn't super serious right now, and he'd begin to feel better when he got his Charm, but he didn't want his little brother to suffer. Sure, at times Gilbert was irresponsible, annoying, and sometimes even rude, but he cared about Ludwig. Sure, Ludwig was more responsible, and acted far older than he was, but Gilbert was still the older brother. It was his job to make sure Ludwig was safe.

Three minutes.

The elevator stopped, and the door opened. Gilbert walked quickly, getting to their room and opening the door.

"I'm back! I got your Charm for you!" Gilbert shouted.

Ludwig pushed the washroom door open, "Come in. I'm not throwing up right now."

Gilbert walked into the washroom. Ludwig was leaning on the counter, holding his head in his hands.

"Here." Gilbert whispered, placing the necklace around Ludwig's neck.

"...Danke..." Ludwig murmured, rubbing his temples.

"You want me to make dinner or are you not in the mood?" Gilbert asked.

"No... I might eat something small later, but my stomach still hurts from all that throwing up..." Ludwig replied.

"Okay. I'm just going to go make myself something. You can come join me whenever." Gilbert told Ludwig quietly.

Ludwig just nodded.

Gilbert left the room, and paced over to the fridge.

"I wonder if there's any leftovers... That would be nice." He mumbled.

He pulled a pizza box out of the fridge and opened it. Three slices left. He could have two, and Ludwig could have one if he wanted later.

He placed the box on the table, grabbed two out of the box, put them on a plate, and put the pizza into the microwave for a few minutes. That should do. He put the last slice into the fridge, still in the box.

He gazed out the window next to him, looking out over the water towards the setting sun, thinking. Today was what? Wednesday? Ugh, math first period tomorrow. That's great.

Gilbert heard footsteps behind him. He looked back, to see Ludwig.

"You feeling better?" Gilbert asked.

"Ja. Very. Thank you." Ludwig mumbled, sitting down at the table.

"How's your head? Want a Tylenol?" 

"No. It still hurts, but..." Ludwig trailed off.

Gilbert noticed this, "...You're still scared, aren't you? About ending up like mom?" He asked quietly.

Ludwig looked away, "Yes. Very." Came his quiet reply.

Gilbert looked back out the window, "Having a Tylenol won't get you addicted to drugs, Ludwig."

"I... Don't like drugs. I'll only take them if I absolutely have to."

"Medicine. Call it medicine." Gilbert insisted.

"Fine. I will only take medicine if I absolutely have to." Ludwig replied, spitting out the word medicine as if it was poison.

"Why? Why are you so afraid?"

The room fell silent. Very silent. You could've heard a pin drop.

"You have to remember, I was young when she died. I guess I'm just... Paranoid. Scared that something will go terribly wrong." Ludwig told his brother, voice nothing more than a whisper.

It was true. Their mother had died due to a drug overdose. She died in their arms. By the time the ambulance arrived, she was already dead. Ludwig was afraid. He always had been. He would only take medicine if a doctor was the one administering it. It didn't matter what. Ludwig had never even taken a Tylenol. He blatantly refused to. Gilbert was afraid too, but not to the same degree as Ludwig.

The room fell silent yet again, before the microwave beeped. Gilbert went to retrieve his pizza.

Silence ensued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god. Sorry for such a painfully short chapter. I think I did good on that last bit with Ludwig and Gilbert, though. This chapter is pretty important, though. It connects everyone and introduces Russia/Ivan, who will play a major role later on. He will likely get his own parts. And, in case anyone is confused, Rainbow in truth or dare, at least when my friends and I play, means that everyone has to do the dare or tell the truth.
> 
> Have a great Day/Night/Unspecified time of day because time zones!


	11. Chapter 11

Ludwig sat in class, tapping his finger on his leg quietly.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt?"

"Here."

Mr. Lexington looked at him for a few more moments, before continuing attendance.

"Kira Charleston?"

"Here, sir!"

"Does he know I was sick? What if that was planned? How would he...?" Ludwig thought nervously, still tapping on his leg.

Ludwig zoned out, thinking about the current situation. What if it WAS planned? His Charm had been gone for five hours, and he had been called down to the office eight minutes before hour six. On the first day of school, Mr. Lexington had revealed that he believed in National Magi. Had Ludwig been found out? Thinking about it, a few others seemed on edge in his class. Specifically, Alfred and his brother.

And, adding on to that, Gilbert had allegedly seen Alfred's necklace glowing. Could he be a National Magi too? Ugh. Ludwig was overthinking this. There was no way.

But, then again, Matthew and Alfred both have necklaces that they always have on them. The necklaces look nothing alike, so it couldn't be a matching thing. One was a maple leaf, and the other was a dog tag with the American flag carved into it. But, if they were National Magi, everything would make sense.

He would have to speak with Gilbert later.

"Ludwig, please pay attention." Mr. Lexington told him.

"U-Uh, sorry, sir. I was distracted." Ludwig mumbled.

"I could tell." Mr. Lexington rolled his eyes. He started again, "As I was saying, today we will be working in teams of two to practice our technique! You have ten seconds to find a partner. Go!"

Instantly, the room exploded into conversation. Ludwig looked around. Great. Everyone already has a partner. Except for one boy.

"Ten seconds are up! Does anyone not have a partner?" Mr. Lexington asked.

Ludwig raised his hand. He would have to have a random partner.

"O-Kay! Ludwig, you can be Ivan's partner!" Mr. Lexington told him. Ludwig looked over at his partner. Ivan was smiling as he looked back. It wasn't a cheerful smile, it seemed more... Creepy. 

Great.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Maxwell! What is the answer to question five?"

"...My name is Matthew. And the answer is twenty-five."

"Very good!"

Matthew sighed and put his head back on his desk. He looked back up at the clock. Fourty minutes left. Ugh. So many numbers. Stupid numbers. He looked across the room to where Alfred was sitting. He had his head on his desk and his phone on his lap, and was playing a game out of view from the teacher.

Matthew pulled out his phone, made sure his notifications were muted, and opened his texting app. He scrolled down to his brother's contact, and texted two words to Alfred.

//Matthew: Pay attention.//

Almost instantly, Alfred's phone went off. The teacher turned her gaze on him. Alfred jumped.

"Alfred Williams-Jones! Pay attention, and turn off your phone! This is your final warning!" The teacher barked angrily.

Matthew's phone went off. Thankfully, it was silenced.

//Alfred: you bitch.//

Matthew snickered a bit, and crammed his phone back in his pocket.

It would be a long class, but that had brightened him up a little.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"So, how was your first class, West?"

"Awkward."

Gilbert and Ludwig were walking down the hall to their second class, which they had together.

"Tell me about it."

Their conversation was interrupted by a enthusiastic shout, "Ve~! Ludwig! Gilbert!"

Ludwig turned his head to where the shout came from, only to be hugged by a excited Feliciano.

"U-Uh, hello, Feli." Ludwig mumbled awkwardly.

"Ciao~!" Feliciano answered happily. How adorable.

Gilbert looked Ludwig straight in the eyes and made a heart with his hands with a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Gilbert, I swear to Gott." Ludwig mouthed. Gilbert just smirked in reply. 

Once Feliciano got off of Ludwig, Gilbert looked at him and asked, "Ready for gym class, Feli?"

Feliciano frowned, "Ve~... I don't like gym class, but I guess..."

"Why don't you like gym class?" Ludwig asked.

"I'm not very good at gym, and the teacher is mean..." Feliciano mumbled.

Gilbert looked confused, "Why? Mrs. Revahs isn't that bad..." He told them.

Feliciano mumbled under his breath, "Not to you she isn't..." He continued, louder this time, "She likes you guys. She really doesn't like Romano and I..." 

"Yeah, but the art and dance teachers like you. A lot." Gilbert reasoned, starting to walk down the hall towards class, Ludwig and Feliciano following.

"That's true." Feliciano acknowledged, walking a little bit ahead of the other two, "What do you think we're doing today?" He asked.

Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Probably basketball drills again." He muttered.

"Well, it's better then math class at least." Feliciano looked back at the two, before turning around and walking backwards, "Math is super boring."

"Hey, what's this?" Gilbert asked, stopping in front of a poster on the wall.

Ludwig paused and looked at the poster as Feliciano approached the two and followed suit.

"Ve~? Talent show, October twelfth?" Feliciano asked no-one in particular.

"Auditions at lunch September 30th? Isn't that next week?" Gilbert added in a questioning tone.

Ludwig looked at the two beside him. Gilbert was smiling, and Feliciano had actually opened his eyes, which he only ever did when he was really happy, excited, or upset. Sinc he was smiling, he assumed it was not the latter.

"Just so you know, I'm not getting into this with you." Ludwig muttered.

Gilbert looked him right in the eyes, "Really now?"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"C'mon! We can do this! We all know the song! We're the ones who wrote it!"

The Nordic Five were sitting around the lunch table, and Matthias was trying to drag the other four into the school's talent show.

"I don't know, Matthias... Berwald? What do you think?" Tino turned to said person.

"...M'ght n't b' a b'd 'dea." Berwald mumbled.

Lukas pitched in, "Matthias, you know I don't like being up on stage. This school is huge..." He trailed off.

Emil seemed interested, "I mean, it can't be that bad. We're all good singers. And, what's the point of writing a song if you never preform it?"

Tino smiled, "Well, if we can get it ready in time for the auditions, I'm in!" 

"I g'ss 'm in." Berwald looked at the others.

Matthias seemed excited, "C'mon, Lukas! We need you! You're the best out of all of us, and your part before the chorus is super important!" He beamed, looking at the Norwegian.

"I suppose. But if this all goes south, I blame you." Lukas mumbled.

Matthias jumped out of his chair in excitement, attracting several glances from around the cafeteria.

"YES! THE NORDIC FIVE IS ENTERING THE TALENT SHOW!"  
_-_-_-_-_-_-

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Stop that."

Tap tap! Tap tap! Tap tap!

"I said stop."

There was a pause.

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap.

"Okay, now you're just trying to annoy me."

Francis and Arthur were sitting at their desks, trying to get a history project done. Francis was tapping his pencil on the desk. 

Francis then pointed his pencil at the pen Arthur had behind his ear and, with a few small Flicks of his wrist, flicked it onto the floor beside Arthur, smirking.

Arthur noticed this, and responded by pointing at Francis's own pencil, flicking his finger around a bit, and tossing the pencil aside. He then proceeded to google the next question on the laptop that had been given to the pair for the assignment with a quiet mumble of, "Bloody frog."

"Here, write this down." Arthur told him, turning the device around as Francis picked up his pencil.

Francis just leaned his chair back and said, "Why don't you write it do—"

Arthur flicked his pencil.

Francis's chair fell backwards, attracting attention from the teacher and several students. Arthur couldn't help but snicker quietly.

"Ow! That was you, wasn't it?" Francis asked, sitting up.

"What? Me? Of course not! Why would I do that?" Arthur replied sarcastically, a small smirk on his face.

You bitch!" Francis muttered playfully.

Unfortunately, the teacher caught that, "Francis Bonnefoy! Language!" She chastised.

"Désolé, madame..."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"Okay, so just the instrumental?" Leon asked, clicking a few things on his laptop and fidgeting with a necklace.

"Yep! I have our lyrics here!" Matthias told him, handing a few sheets to the others.

The Nordic Five were in Emil and his roommate, Leon's dorm. Leon was helping them set up the music.

"Thanks for helping us, Leon." Tino smiled at him.

"It's no problem. It's nice to help out sometimes." Leon replied.

Matthias looked over to Leon after handing a sheet to Lukas, "So where are you from again? China?"

"Hong Kong." Leon replied.

Lukas looked at Matthias, "He literally told you that two minutes ago. Are you deaf?"

Matthias replied, "No, I just figured I'd confirm that it's Hong Kong."

Berwald looked over at him, "Wh't?"

"What?"

"Anyways!" Tino interrupted, "Are we ready to go?"

"Yep!"

"I guess."

"Y's."

"Sure." 

"Music's ready."

"Alright! Nordic Five, let's do this!"

The music started, and after the first few bars, Matthias began. Leon sat down in a nearby chair and listened.

"Hey ya, everyone! Get ready to get some good cheer straight from the Nordic region!"

"Iceland."

"Norway."

"Denmark!"

"Sweden."

"Finland!"

"Hm?"

"Ohyaaaaa!"

The first chorus began, and all five of them sang at once.

"Wow wow wow wow wow wow, Nordic, ho!"

"Wow wow wow wow wow wow, Nordic, ho!"

"Nor-"

"dic"

"re-"

"gion"

"FIVE!"

_-_-_-_-_-_-

 

"Ve~! Romano!! Look what I just found!" Feliciano shouted excitedly, entering their shared dorm, his voice muffled by the door.

Romano was laying sideways onn his bed, phone on his pillow, blush across his cheeks, with absolutely no clue what to do. He lifted his phone back up to his face, and read the text again.

//Antonio: Hey, Romano. So, I've been wondering. We've been friends for a long time, since we were really little, but... Lately I've been wondering... Would you like to be something a little more? Well, I guess what I'm asking is, will you go out on a date with me? It's perfectly okay if you say no, and if you do say no, I hope we can still be friends. Text me back when you get the chance! :)//

Okay. Romano would admit it. He liked Antonio. A lot. But he denied his feelings because he didn't want to be made fun of. He just didn't let himself love Antonio. But he wanted to. Romano also wasn't the best with words. It was in his nature to call someone a bastard, or a idiot. Especially when he was nervous. Romano sighed. What should he do? Should he ask Feli? Normally Antonio was anyone's go-to for love advice, but he obviously couldn't ask him about this. He could ask Francis, but he was overly enthusiastic and would probably end up telling Antonio. What about Gilbert? He was good with stuff like that, and only really disliked him because how close he was to his brother all the time. Ugh. 

"Love is complicated." Romano decided.

Just then, Feliciano pushed his door open with a happy, "Fratello~! look what I found!"

Romano rolled his eyes, "What did you find, idiot?" He asked, almost forgetting his current issue.

"Look!" Feliciano told him, shoving a paper in his face, "The school has a dance program! You love dance!"

"W-Wha? And what makes you think I'll sign up?" 

Feliciano smiled, "It's just a suggestion! I also heard Antonio might sign up!" His smile turned to a sly smirk. Then it hit him.

"...You heard all of that, didn't you..?"

"Si!"

"Bastard..." Romano sighed, "Well, what should I do? Do you know?" 

Feliciano thought about that for a few seconds, "You should accept. It's not healthy to keep emotions bottled up like you do." He finally said.

"Since when did you know anything about that?" Romano asked.

"Since Gilbert and I talked about it a hour ago."

Of course. The moment Romano had said anything about the text, Feliciano would know, and ask whoever he happens to be with. Great.

"Besides!" Feliciano continued, "You like him. You're just in denial. I know, I heard you for the past hour." 

Romano sighed, "Okay. I will. And I think I might sign up for the dance program."

"Yay! Fratello's signing up for the dance program!" Feliciano said happily, before leaving the room.

Romano sighed once again, and lifted up his phone to text Antonio back.

//Romano: I mean, I guess. Bastard.//

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Antonio looked at his phone as it went off. That was Romano's notification sound. A mixture of feelings flow through him. Excitement, fear, anticipation, hope.

He grabbed the phone off of his table. Ryan looked at the him with a eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Antonio unlocked it, and looked at the text.

//Romano: I mean, I guess. Bastard.//

Immediately, his face lit up. Romano didn't reject him? This is amazing!

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"I asked my crush out, and he didn't reject me!" Antonio beamed.

"Nice. Where you planning on taking him?" Ryan asked.

Antonio smiled wider, "There's supposed to back a meteor shower that you can see on the northern beach tomorrow night. That's the plan." 

"Who is it?" Ryan asked.

"Romano Vargas." Antonio answered.

Ryan looked confused now, "Romano? Why him?"

Antonio replied, still smiling, "He might seem rude, but he's actually really adorable!"

"Mmhm." Ryan looked at him, seeming to be a mixture of confused and concerned.

"It's true!"

"Okay, I'll take your word for it..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Sorry for the crappy chapter.
> 
> I'm thinking of using a new sorta upload style-thing. Instead of uploading big chapters, I'll just upload the bits of chapters one by one. This will mean more chapters, but less length.
> 
> Anyways, I've just been a bit uninspired as of late. Stupid Writer's Block. Don't worry, I'm not giving up! I'm just gonna take a small break to try and cure my Writer's Block.
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter, even though it's kinda bad.
> 
> Also...
> 
> Suddenly, SpaMano.
> 
> That is all.


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